Prunelard
Gaillac, France
An ancient, nearly extinct red grape from southwest France, rediscovered in the 2000s and now known to be one of the two parents of Malbec.
Sensory profile
Characteristics
Flavor & aroma
At a glance
Production facts
Prevalence
Rare
Climate
Moderate climate
Ripening
Mid season
Wine styles
Still
Where it's grown
Geography
Shaded areas are the state, province or département(s) containing each region, so they run wider than the appellations themselves.
France
Gaillac (Southwest France)
A small revival is underway among growers restoring this once near-extinct local variety.
Background
Origin & History
Prunelard was once a common sight in Gaillac, a wine region in southwest France with a winemaking history predating Bordeaux's, but phylloxera and shifting fashions reduced it to a mere handful of surviving vines by the mid-20th century. For decades it seemed destined to disappear entirely.
Starting in the 1990s and 2000s, a small number of committed Gaillac growers began propagating and replanting the surviving vines, sparking a modest revival. That revival gained new scientific weight when DNA research identified Prunelard, alongside the equally obscure Magdeleine Noire des Charentes, as one of the two parents of Malbec — giving this once-forgotten grape a genuine claim to viticultural importance.
Lineage
Family tree
Parentage not recorded — Prunelard is an old variety of unknown origin. Click a related grape to explore its own lineage.