Grape variety
Garanoir
Garanoir: Gamaret’s softer sibling, bred at Changins in 1970 from Gamay and Reichensteiner. Fruity, deeply coloured and often found in blends.
- Colour
- Red
- Parentage
- Gamay × Reichensteiner, crossed in 1970 by André Jaquinet and Dominique Maigre at Changins
- Grown in Switzerland
- About 220 hectares, more than half of them in Vaud
- Typical aromas
- Cherry, red and black berries, mild spice
- Classic pairing
- Grilled meat, charcuterie, a cheese board
- Sibling varieties
- Gamaret and Mara, from the same cross
Garanoir is Gamaret’s twin: both were born in 1970 from the same cross of Gamay and Reichensteiner, made by André Jaquinet and Dominique Maigre at the federal research station of Changins, whose vine-breeding unit was then based at Pully. Two varieties were selected from the seedlings: Gamaret, the more powerful, for French-speaking Switzerland, and Garanoir, softer and earlier, originally intended for the German-speaking part. Both were released in 1990. History then took a different course: Garanoir found its home not in the north but, like its brother, in Romandie.
There are about 220 hectares of Garanoir in Switzerland today, more than half of them in Vaud, over a fifth in Geneva, the rest in Valais, the Three Lakes region and German-speaking Switzerland. The grape ripens even earlier than Gamaret, resists grey rot very well and reliably delivers ripe, dark fruit. For growers in cooler sites that is an advantage that pays off in years with a wet autumn.
In the glass Garanoir is deeply coloured but more approachable than Gamaret: less tannin, less pepper, more fruit. Cherry, red and black berries and mild spice mark the nose; the palate is round, supple and medium-bodied. Because it is so easy to like, it is mostly drunk young and seldom aged in wood. In Vaud and Geneva it is the favoured blending partner, taking the edges off Gamaret and lending colour to Gamay; the classic Gamaret-Garanoir cuvée is the everyday house red of many village cellars.
At the table Garanoir is an uncomplicated companion: grilled meat, a board of dried sausage and cured ham, a cheese plate or a bowl of pasta with tomato sauce. Serve it lightly chilled at 15 to 17 degrees; on a warm summer evening it can go cooler still.
To taste it as a single varietal, look to Geneva, La Côte and the Chablais, where a number of estates make their Garanoir as a juicy red in its own right. In Valais it plays a supporting role alongside Gamaret and Pinot Noir. Outside Switzerland it is practically not grown at all, which makes it one of the few genuinely Swiss specialities among red grapes.