Marsanne

Marsanne
Grape (Vitis)
Color of berry skin	Blanc
Species	Vitis vinifera
Also called	See list of synonyms
Origin	France
Notable regions	Rhône, Australia, California
Notable wines	White Hermitage

Marsanne is a white wine grape, most commonly found in the Northern Rhône region. It is often blended with Roussanne. In Savoie the grape is known as grosse roussette. Outside France it is also grown in Switzerland (where it is known as ermitage blanc or just ermitage), Spain (where it is known as Marsana), New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the United States.

The grape most likely originated in the Northern Rhône region where it is widely planted today. And more precisely the village and abbey of Marsanne (Drôme). It is a principal component of the white wines from the Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage and Saint-Joseph AOCs. It is the most widely planted white wine grape in the Hermitage AOC, where it is often blended with Roussanne. Along with Roussanne, up to 15% of Marsanne can be added to the red wine of Hermitage under Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) regulations. In the Saint-Péray AOC, it is used for both still and sparkling wine production. In the Southern Rhône, Marsanne is not one of the white grapes permitted in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC, although Roussanne is. (In Châteauneuf-du-Pape blends, Clairette blanc adds similar characteristics as Marsanne.) It can be found in some white wines from the Côtes du Rhône AOC. Although Marsanne is mostly made into a dry wine, it is commonly made into a sweet wine in Valais, Switzerland and some producers in the Rhône have also experimented with making a dessert-style straw wine with Marsanne.

Outside the Northern Rhône region, Marsanne is also found in Savoie and in the Languedoc where it is often blended with Viognier. It is a permitted grape in the Provence wine of Cassis though it is not widely used.

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Wikipedia