Alicante Bouschet

This is a bottle of varietal Alicante Bouchet, a grape more often associated with Portugal than say Australia where this example comes from. Actually it was a grape bred by a French grape breeder, Henri Bouschet, who crossed Petit Bouschet (a crossing made by his father) with Grenache in 1866. This resulted in a grape with deep colour and high yields, but prone to give flabby wines with little character. (A note about colour is that it is a teinturier grape with coloured flesh and juice). Though planted widely in Southern France at the turn of the 29th century, it is now extinct there. It was a popular grape just after the Prohibition in the USA, but it remains largely forgotten now. Which is why it is often associated with Portugal these days, especially Alentejo. The example above is yet another illustration of bold Australian experimentation. I would like to taste this soon.