A cépage is a grape variety but what is a cépage teinturier?
Teint is a French word and it means tint, dye, stain. A cépage teinturier is a grape variety that stains, dyes or tints. So what makes that different from any other grape variety?
Black grapes (we call them black not red) are what we use to make red wine and give colour to rosé wine.
The colour in a black grape comes from the skin. If you peel back the skin of a black grape you’ll see that the flesh is clear. That’s how you can make white wine using black grapes (think sparkling).
Leaves that turn red 
Stems that are red too 
Early ripening slightly oval shapped berries
Some (very few) black grapes, also have coloured flesh. They are called cépages teinturiers.
The Teinturier grape variety possibly originated from the region of Orléans in the Loire valley where it was widely cultivated from the 17th century onwards.
This grape has disappeared from French statistics but you occasionally come across a few rows as we did. In the heart of Chenin country (Vouvray) a few rows that may be used to make sparkling wine (but not under the appellation Vouvray as it’s Chenin only) or blended with other grape varieties to make a red.
We think that this variety is Gamay teinturier de Bouze. A Gamay that has red flesh.
