A look at the grape varieties of the Valencian Country: the indigenous ones born here, the Mediterranean ones present for centuries, those introduced more recently, and those still awaiting reliable identification. An open inventory that will grow with time and with contributions from those who work the vines and study them.
Varietal names present well-known difficulties in the wine world: a single name may designate genetically different varieties (homonymy), and a single variety may bear different names depending on the area (synonymy). In this inventory, the main-name column carries the Valencian denomination or the one most accepted in the Valencian Country, and the official synonyms refer to international names where they exist.
Samsó, Carignan and Mazuelo: in traditional Valencian nomenclature, Samsó is the common name for the variety known in Castilian as Cariñena and in French as Carignan. Genetic studies have shown that what is called Samsó in the Penedès is in fact Cinsault. The Samsó-Carignan-Mazuelo identity is kept here for consistency with Valencian usage.
Alicante Bouschet and Garnatxa tintorera: DNA studies from 2003 definitively established that the Spanish Garnacha Tintorera and the French Alicante Bouschet are one and the same variety, a hybrid obtained by Henri Bouschet in 1855. Despite the name, it is not a variety originating in Alicante.
Valencí Negre and Valencí Blanco: under the generic name Valencí coexist two genetically independent varieties. Valencí Negre is a pre-phylloxera Valencian indigenous variety, currently being recovered. Valencí Blanco is, according to reference ampelographic sources, a synonym of the variety Beba, a table grape of Extremaduran and Andalusian origin.
Tortosí: research by UPV-COMAV has identified non-matching genotypes under this name in different vineyards. Case-by-case molecular verification would be required to confirm the identity of this variety.
The Diccionari dels noms de ceps i raïms by Xavier Favà i Agud (Institut d'Estudis Catalans, Joan Coromines prize 1999) is the academic reference for the nomenclature of the viticultural lexicon throughout Catalan-speaking territories, including the Valencian Country. It has made it possible to confirm the following synonymies, which previously appeared as separate entries with uncertain status:
UPV-COMAV has documented several confusions between varieties present in old vineyards of the Valencian Country:
These confusions reinforce the importance of molecular identification in varietal recovery work.
The qualifier Valencian indigenous has been used for varieties that have the Valencian Country as their documented centre of origin or as their main historical area of presence. The distinction with the traditional Mediterranean category (Grenache, Malvasia, Macabeu, Muscat) is in some cases debatable: these varieties have been cultivated in the Valencian Country for centuries, but their origin lies in other regions of the Mediterranean basin.
Universitat Politècnica de València, COMAV Institute. Works by Gisbert, Jiménez, García and collaborators published in the journal Vitis (2019, 2020). Molecular identification of pre-phylloxera and indigenous varieties of the Valencian Community, with the inclusion in the Vitis International Variety Catalogue of varieties previously absent.
Regulatory Council of DO Alicante. Old-variety recovery project launched in 2019 in collaboration with the University of Valencia.
Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC), the international reference database for grape varieties.
Xavier Favà i Agud (2001). Diccionari dels noms de ceps i raïms. L'ampelonímia catalana. Institut d'Estudis Catalans, Barcelona. Reference work for the historical documentation and dialectal variants of grape nomenclature across Catalan-speaking territory.
Terroir Radical, documentary selection of grape varieties from the Valencian Community.
This document is a work in progress. Entries classified as unidentified or with uncertain status correspond to traditional names present in oral testimony or old documents, but for which neither molecular identification nor a reliable ampelographic description is yet available. Collaboration with growers, researchers and appellations of origin should make it possible to complete and correct this list progressively.
The database is kept in an open CSV file, freely available for consultation and download: download the inventory CSV. To submit corrections, identifications or new accounts, please contact us.