Aramon Noir is an unfashionable black grape from Languedoc-Roussillon in the south of France. Over time, the variety has lost most of its ground.
Characteristics
Once popular for being able to produce large quantities of very anonymous wines, it was used almost entirely for blending, above all with Alicante Henri Bouschet.
Wines
If allowed to give high yields, Aramon Noir will produce a wine that is very light red in colour, low in alcohol and with a thin character. If submitted to severe green harvest it will produce wines with herbal flavours, accompanied by earth and spiciness. There are however very few examples of varietal Aramon Noir wines around, even though they do exist.
Food pairing
If you manage to lay your hands of a bottle of dry, varietal Aramon Noir wine, and wants to pair it with food, a suggestion is to go for a Cassoulet, a bean and meat casserole. Suggested serving temperature for the wine is 14°C/57°F – 16°C/61°F.
Where is it grown?
In 2010 Aramon Noir had an acreage in France of 2.547 ha/6,294 ac, ranking it as the number thirty-fifth most planted grape. Fifty-nine percent of this, 1.507 ha/3,724 ac, were in Hérault, in southern France, with additional plantings in neighbouring provinces.
There are some very small plantings reported also from Portugal, in total 14 ha/35 ac ac, spread over five regions.
History
Aramon Noir is an old variety. There are suggestions it could have been brought to France from Greece more than two thousand years ago. This might however not be the case as there is DNA testing that establishes its parents to be Ouliven, a red, presumably French table grape, and Heunisch Weiss (known also as Gouais Blanc) a green grape recognised as one of the oldest varieties in Western Europe.