RARE GRAPE VARIETAL RESOURCE

Plant Robert, also known as Plant Robez or Plant Robaz, is an old red grape variety from Gamay that has been adapted to Lavaux (Canton de Vaux, Switzerland). The name comes from the term rober, from the German rauben, meaning “to steal.” Certified in the region since the 19th century, but undoubtedly much older, it was saved in 1966. It is currently grown on small plots of land spread within the Lavaux area, by a small group of passionate wine growers who are part of the Plant Robert Association. The wine produced using this grape also takes the name Plant Robert: it is a red wine, dark in color, almost garnet red, which stands out from its Gamay cousins for its spicy, peppery notes. It is described as both wild and elegant, fine and rustic and pairs well with poultry, mushrooms, soft cheese and dry goat cheese.   The grape variety grows well on extra-light soils. It is an early variety, turning red in September. In the 1960s, only one plot of Plant Robert was still under cultivation, and was destroyed for the construction of a motorway. Robert Monnier, a wine maker, took grafts from several vine stocks and then planted them over 4500 square meters in Villette. The re-introduction of this variety at the time increased interest for this  wine. While it is genetically a variety of Gamay, the characteristics that emerge due to the territory in which it is planted makes Plant Robert an authentic regional specialty. Today, a Plant Robert association monitors the size, planting density and production quantities of this variety in the 10 hectares where it is currently grown by fifteen producers (resulting in 20,000-30,000 bottles of wine per year). 

(Source: Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity – Ark of Taste) https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/ark-of-taste-slow-food/?fwp_arca_settore=wines-and-grape-varietals-en)

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