Arrufiac is a white French wine

French wine

French wine is produced in several regions throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France has the world's second-largest total vineyard area, behind Spain, and is in the position of being the world's largest wine producer...

 grape variety that is primarily planted in the Gascony

Gascony

Gascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...

 region of South West France. It is a secondary grape in the wines from the Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh Appellation d'origine contrôlée

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée

Appellation d’origine contrôlée , which translates as "controlled designation of origin", is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, all under the auspices of the government bureau Institut National...

(AOC). While the grape has had a long history being blended with Petit Courbu in Gascon wines, it has only recently experienced a resurgence of interest in the late 20th century following the release of white blends from Andrė Dubosc of Producteurs Plaimont, one of the region's largest co-operative wineries, in the 1980s.

Wine regions

Arrufiac has had a long history of use in the wines of Gascony, particularly those from the AOC region of Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh near Madiran and the Béarn AOC

Béarn AOC

Béarn is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée for wine in South West France. It is locateted in the area of intersection of three French departments: Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées and Gers; and two regions: Aquitaine and Midi-Pyrénées...

 in the Vic-Bilh hills.
There the grape was often blended with Petit Courbu which, along with Arrufiac's distinctive gunflint aroma, gave the wines of Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh a distinctive contrast to the white wines of nearby Jurançon. Additionally winemakers in Gascony have blended Arrufiac with the other grapes of Jurançon Petit Manseng

Petit Manseng

Petit Manseng is a white wine grape variety that is grown primarily in South West France. It produces the highest quality wine of any grape in the Manseng family. The name is derived from its small, thick skin berries. Coupled with the small yields of the grapevine, most Petit Manseng farmers...

 and Gros Manseng

Gros Manseng

Gros Manseng is a white wine grape variety that is grown primarily in South West France, and is part of the Manseng family. It produces dry wines in the Jurançon and Béarn regions of Southwest France...

.

Wine styles

Arrufiac is used primarily as a blending wine with its medium body and relatively low alcohol levels for a wine grown in southern France. In blends its main contribution is in the aroma and bouquet with wines featuring Arrufiac often marked by a distinctive gunflint note.

Synonyms

Arrufiac and its wines are known under a variety of synonyms including Ambre, Arafiat, Arrefiac, Arrefiat, Arrufiat, Arufiat, Raffiac, Raffiat, Refiat, Rouffiac Femelle, Ruffiac, Ruffiac Blanc, and Rufiat.