Douce noir

Douce noir (also known as Bonarda, Corbeau and Charbono) is a red Italian wine grape variety that has been historically grown in the Savoie wine region of north-west of Italy but today is more widely planted in Argentina. The earliest mention of the grape dates when Etruscan planted first Bonarda some 3.000 years ago in the Padana Region. In the early 19th century and by the end of that century it was the most widely grown red wine grape in eastern France. In the early 21st century it was discovered that the Bonarda grape which is the 2nd most widely planted red grape, after Malbec, in Argentina was the Italian wine grape Bonarda Piemontese imported by Italian immigrants. The grape is also grown in California where it is known as Charbono.