Ugni Blanc
Also known as Trebbiano Toscano, Trebbiano
Probably Tuscany, Italy
One of the most widely planted white grapes in the world, valued more for its high acidity and neutrality — ideal for distilling into Cognac and Armagnac — than for varietal wine.
Sensory profile
Characteristics
Flavor & aroma
At a glance
Production facts
Prevalence
Widely planted
Climate
Moderate climate
Ripening
Late 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
Cognac (Charente)
The dominant grape of Cognac production, valued for high acid and neutral flavor ideal for distillation.
Italy
Tuscany
As Trebbiano Toscano, a traditional blending component in everyday whites and, historically, Chianti.
Background
Origin & History
Believed to originate in Italy, where it may go back to Roman times and is thought by some ampelographers to take its Trebbiano name from the Trebbia river in Emilia-Romagna, the grape likely reached France by the 14th century. A popular but unproven story credits the popes at Avignon with bringing it.
In France it found its true calling not as a fine wine grape but as the base for distillation: its reliable high yields, high acidity, and neutral flavor turned out to be ideal for producing the thin, sharp base wine that Cognac and Armagnac distillers need. It remains today one of the most widely planted white grapes on earth by total area, even though it is rarely celebrated as a varietal wine in its own right.
Lineage
Family tree
Parentage not recorded — Ugni Blanc is an old variety of unknown origin.
No crossings involving Ugni Blanc are documented in the collection yet.