aroma notes. In both Old and New World wine regions, Mourvèdre is a popular grape to be used in rosé winemaking. These wines can be made as a dedicated rosé where the skins are allowed only a brief period of skin contact (a few hours or a single day) before they are pressed or as saignée where some of the juice destined for a red Mourvèdre is "bled off" during fermentation creating two separate wines—a darker, more concentrated red wine and the lighter rosé. Synonyms and relationship to other grapes Mourvèdre is the name used in France. Worldwide, there are 95 other names, including Mataro, which is used in Portugal and parts of the New World; and Monastrell, which is used in Spain. In English-speaking wine producing areas, Mourvèdre is most commonly used; it is the official name used by the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Despite the similarities of its synonyms, Mourvèdre has no relation to the Spanish wine grape Graciano which is also known as Morrastel in France. At one point, the Cognac grape Balzac blanc was thought to be a color mutation of Mourvèdre due to the similarities in synonyms with Mourvèdre also being known as Balzac noir. However, DNA analysis at the turn of the 21st century showed that the two varieties had no relation. Despite having the synonym Rossola nera, Mourvèdre has no known relationship to the Lombardy wine grape of the same name with the latter being an offspring of the Piedmontese wine grape Nebbiolo. References Red wine grape varieties French wine Grape varieties of Spain Spanish wine