Grape Variety #86: Romorantin

Romorantin is a grape of kings. King Francis I loved wines made with the grape. He brought vines with him to his favorite residences in the Loire (Chambord, Blois) so that he could have an ample supply of the wine on hand. Many plantings were pulled out to make room for more popular varieties like chardonnay and sauvignon blanc, but in a tiny Loire appellation called Cour-Cheverny a small clutch of romorantin vines have been preserved.

One of my New Year's wine resolutions was to finish drinking the last 15 grape varieties that will qualify me as a member of the Wine Century Club. Dedicated to wine lovers who have tasted their way through at least 100 different grape varieties, Romorantin is grape variety #86 for me. As a dedicated history buff it seemed like the perfect wine to start off my countdown, given its sixteenth-century origins.

Wine tastes change over the centuries. What was popular in the 16th century may not go down so well with 21st-century palates. The 2004 Domaine Phillippe Tessier Cour-Cheverny Domaine Blanc is a testament to this fact. (K & L Wines, $12.99). Made with 100% romorantin grapes, its aromas and flavors of damp canvas, grapefruit pith, and soil will not be to everyone's taste--but I'm here to tell you that they are correct, varietally speaking. This bottle of wine was not corked; that's what romorantin tastes like, unless it's been made in a sweeter style. There are demi-sec and botrytized versions of romorantin wines, and my guess is that's what Francis I drank. They had quite a sweet tooth back in 1519, and old wine recipes and instructions often advocate dumping honey, cinnamon, and other additives into white wine (usually from Gascogny) to make them more palatable and taste like "German wine" which was considerably more expensive.

With these rarer grape varieties, it's difficult to sort out QPR. How many examples of romorantin is anyone likely to drink over the years? So I consulted the archives of some wine blogs that I just knew would include reviews of romorantin wines. Sure enough, Spittoon's Andrew Barrow served romorantin wines to a lunch group and discovered that romorantin's "complex oil, nut, carpet flavours, oddball aromas and high acidity didn't find many friends." Bertrand Calce of Wine Terroirs mentioned the wine's "peculiar aromas" but also noted that the wines typically needed some age on them to really show at their best. Closer to home, Brooklynguy had a demi-sec romorantin last year and liked it a lot, noting its citrus oil qualities. Ultimately, I decided this wine represented very good QPR judged by the romorantin varietal yardstick.

I'm not sure romorantin is going to be a frequent visitor to my table--at least not in this dry style. I'd like to try a demi-sec, and see whether that's how this grape really shines. But that will be some months down the road. Have you ever had a romorantin? I'd be interested to hear your experiences with it.