Teinturier grape

Vitis tinctoria - Teinturier Grape

In the 19th century, the Teinturier grape held a unique position in French vineyards: this grape variety was not intended for the table, but to enhance the color of pale wines. Its intensely red flesh and juice made it a valuable ally for winemakers keen to produce deep, richly colored wines.

Known by various names, Noireau in Haute-Navarre, Furber in Moselle, Négrier in Seine-et-Marne, it was cultivated in almost all French vineyards, recognizable from afar by its leaves which turn red from late summer onwards.

This vine of moderate vigor is distinguished by its buds, which are initially dull yellow, turning reddish-brown at the end of the season.

Its leaves, small and deeply cut into five lobes, are bordered with irregular teeth and covered with a light woolly down underneath, resembling a cobweb that detaches to the touch.

The clusters, rather small and compact, measure about 10 centimeters long. The round, black berries, covered with abundant blue bloom, reach 6 to 8 millimeters in diameter.

Each grape contains one or two elongated grey seeds. The grape, quite sweet and not at all unpleasant to taste, ripens around mid-September. Its remarkable peculiarity lies in its naturally red flesh and juice, a rare property that led to it being specifically vinified to color wines.

This plate is taken from Pierre-Antoine Poiteau and Pierre Jean François Turpin's Traité des Arbres Fruitiers, a botanical encyclopedia published between 1807 and 1835, a major reference in 19th-century naturalistic illustration.

It combines the rigor of scientific drawing with a rare artistic sensitivity, characteristic of the great plates from the golden age of illustrated botany.