Raise a glass | Introducing World Marselan Day

By Jim Boyce | Who is Paul Truel? A French scientist who created the grape Marselan in 1961. What is Marselan? A cross of Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache. Why does it matter?

Marselan is now used for wine in 20-plus nations. And for the past ten years, a rising number of people have cited its potential as “China’s grape”, like Malbec for Argentina, Zinfandel for California, and so on.

For these reasons, I started World Marselan Day, and aim to hold it on April 27, the same day as Paul Truel’s birth.

Yes, I understand there are many grape days now, but I think they work best for varieties that have an interesting and unfolding story to tell, and that is certainly the case with Marselan.

By the way, I originally considered doing this project in 2015 but, because I was so involved in the wine industry, I did World Baijiu Day instead. This one will be far more relaxed!

Want to participate? On April 27, open a bottle of Marselan and raise a glass to Paul Truel. And please send me a photo so I can include it on the site.

I’ll also organize a Marselan event that day. More details to come.

Learn more about Paul Truel here, about Marselan here, and about the wines made with this grape here.


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Sign up for the Grape Wall newsletter here. Follow Grape Wall on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. And see my sibling sites World Marselan DayWorld Baijiu Day and Beijing Boyce. Grape Wall has no advertisers, so if you find the content useful, please help cover the costs via PayPal, WeChat or Alipay. Contact Grape Wall via grapewallofchina (at) gmail.com.

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