In 1996, a farmer discovered an old vine stock hidden inside a thicket in Saint-Suliac on the banks of the Rance. The site was known to have historically been a location on which grapevines grew. The National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) in Montpellier analysed a branch and concluded that it was an unknown grape variety.
A few years later, four vines with the same genetic signature were discovered in Charente. A climbing vine variety that produced black grapes for consumption as fruit. Locally, the grapes were known as Magdeleine because it of how early in the year they matured: at the end of July, around the feast day of St Marie Madeleine (22nd July). To differentiate them from other varieties (all green) of the same name, the grapes were known by the full name of Magdeleine noire des Charentes (Black Madeleine of Charentes).
The story of a grape variety unknown to scientists being discovered in a region with such little winemaking activity as northern Brittany is unusual enough, but there’s more to it. In collaboration with the University of California, the Montpellier INRA researchers discovered that the Magdeleine noire des Charentes is an ancestor (the mother) of Merlot, one the most grown grape varieties worldwide.
If we assume that the Charente region is where the Madeleine noire originally comes from, why has an example of this variety been found in Saint-Suliac? Commercial exchanges at the nearby port of Saint-Malo could help researchers to answer this question. It’s just a question of carrying out the research!...
Another question also comes to mind: exactly how old is this grape variety? As it stands today, biological research cannot provide an answer. So if one does exist, it’s more likely to be hidden somewhere within a huge number of publicly or privately-owned heritage archives.
Translation: Tilly O'Neill
