Mondeuse Noire is a red wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

 grape

Grape

A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...

 that is grown primarily in the Savoy

Savoy wine

Savoy or, in French, Savoie is a wine region situated in the Savoy region in eastern France, and is sometimes referred to as the country of the Allobroges.The Savoy landscape is distinctly alpine...

 region of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. The grape can also be found in Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, and California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. The grape was hit hard during the phylloxera

Phylloxera

Grape phylloxera ; originally described in France as Phylloxera vastatrix; equated to the previously described Daktulosphaira vitifoliae, Phylloxera vitifoliae; commonly just called phylloxera is a pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America...

 epidemic of the 19th century which nearly wiped out the vine from eastern France. In Savoie the grape is used in blending with Gamay

Gamay

Gamay is a purple-colored grape variety used to make red wines, most notably grown in Beaujolais and in the Loire Valley around Tours. Its full name is Gamay Noir à Jus Blanc. It is a very old cultivar, mentioned as long ago as the 15th century...

, Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir

Pinot noir is a black wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes...

 and Poulsard

Poulsard

Poulsard is a red French wine grape variety from the Jura wine region. The name Ploussard is used mainly around the town of Pupillin but can appear on wine labels throughout Jura as an authorized synonyms...

 where it contributes its dark color and high acid

Acid

An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...

 levels to the wine that allow the wines to age well.

French plantations of Mondeuse Noire fell sharply in the 1970s, with just over 200 hectares (494.2 acre) left in France in 2000. In the early 21st century, it seems the variety has increased somewhat in popularity, as it can give good wines if the planting site is chosen carefully.

Relationship to other varieties

Some authorities have previously suggested than Mondeuse Noire is identical to the northern Italian variety Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso

Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso

Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso is a red Italian wine grape grown predominantly in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeast Italy. The grape is a variety in the Refosco family and derives its name from its red stems...

 due to the similarity of the wines. DNA analysis has shown that this is not the case, and that the two varieties are unrelated.

DNA analysis has also shown that, despite similarity in names, Mondeuse Noire and Mondeuse Blanche

Mondeuse Blanche

Mondeuse Blanche is a variety of white grape almost exclusively found in and around the Savoy wine region in France. With just of plantations in 1999, it leads a dwindling existence and is used primarily in the VDQS wine Bugey and the AOC Vin de Savoie.- Related grapes :DNA typing has established...

 do not share a close relationship.

Mondeuse Noire is very similar to Muscardin

Muscardin

Muscardin is a dark-skinned grape variety primarily found in the southern part of the Rhône region. It is primarily noted for being one of the thirteen grape varieties permitted in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation...

 which is found in Southern Rhône

Rhône (wine region)

The Rhône wine region in Southern France is situated in the Rhône river valley and produces numerous wines under various Appellation d'origine contrôlée designations...

 where it is one of the thirteen grape varieties permitted in the wine Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC

Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a French wine Appellation d'origine contrôlée located around the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the Rhône wine region in southeastern France. It is the most renowned appellation of the southern part of the Rhône Valley...

. One difference is that Muscardin has less sensitivity to downy mildew

Downy mildew

Downy mildew refers to any of several types of oomycete microbes that are obligate parasites of plants. Downy mildews exclusively belong to Peronosporaceae. In commercial agriculture, they are a particular problem for growers of crucifers, grapes and vegetables that grow on vines...

. They are however not thought to be the same variety.

Synonyms

The following synonyms have been recorded for Mondeuse Noire: Angelique, Argillet, Argilliere, Begeain, Begean, Bon Savoyan, Chetouan, Cintuan, Cotillon Des Dames, Gascon, Grand Chetuan, Grand Picot, Grand Picou, Gros Chetuan, Gros Picot, Gros Piquot,
Gros Plant, Gros Rouge, Gros Rouge Du Pays, Grosse Sirah, Gueyne, Guyenne, La Dame, Languedoc, Largillet, Maldoux, Mandouse, Mandoux, Mandouze, Mantouse, Margilien, Margillin, Marlanche Noire, Marsanne Noire, Marsanne Ronde, Marve, Maudos, Maudoux, Meximieux, Molette, Molette Noire, Mondeuse Rouge, Morlanche Mouteuse, Parcense, Persagne, Persaigne, Persance, Persanne, Pinot Vache, Plant Maudos, Plant Medoc, Plant Modo, Plant Modol, Plant Noir, Prossaigne, Refosco, Rouget, Salanaise, Savoe,
Savoete, Savouai, Savouette, Savoyan, Savoyanche, Savoyange, Savoyanne, Savoyant, Savoyard, Savoyen, Savoyet, Syrah Grosse, Terran, Terrano, Tornarin, Tournarin, Tournerin, Vache.

References to Mondeuse usually are to Mondeuse Noire rather than to Mondeuse Blanche.