Alicante Bouschet is a French variety, a cross of Petit Bouschet and Grenache, bred specifically for its red-colored flesh and juice rather than the usual white pulp of red grapes. California's bearing acreage has fallen by nearly half since 2000, from 1,403 to 781 acres in 2025, concentrated in the Central Valley: Fresno, San Joaquin, and Merced together hold over 60 percent of the statewide total. It was historically valued for boosting color in blended reds and for shipping well during Prohibition.
What kind of grape this is
- Registry name
- ALICANTE HENRI BOUSCHET
- Species
- VITIS VINIFERA LINNÉ SUBSP. SATIVA (DE CANDOLLE) HEGI
- Berry color
- NOIR
- Country of origin
- FRANCE
- Synonyms
- 69
- Approved on a US label
- Alicante Bouschet
- FPS selections
- 2
CDFA prints it as Alicante Bouschet
names this grape is known by elsewhere, per VIVC
the names TTB permits on a bottle
distinct clones and selections held at UC Davis
Registries
What is published
Counts describe what this atlas holds for Alicante Bouschet, not what California grows. A zero is a published answer: it means the source names the grape and reports nothing under it, or does not name it at all.
- 467
county-years of acreage
24 counties, 781 bearing acres in 2025
- 350
district-years of crush
17 of 17 crush districts, 26 crop years
- 350
district-years of Brix
tonnage-weighted at the crusher, Crush Report Table 3
- 3
producers in this atlas
producers whose curated wine list names it — a curated roster of 2,772 producers, not a census of California
- —
regions with a maturity date
not one of the eight cultivars with a
Acreage in California
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Counties and concentration
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Where it is planted
Reported by county — never by AVA
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Share of each county's vineyard
Reported by county — never by AVA
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The counties
Reported by county — never by AVA
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Tonnage and price by district
Reported by crush district — never by county or AVA
All 17 districts on one axis →
loading crush report…
Brix at the crusher
Reported by crush district — never by county or AVA
loading must chemistry…
Growers in this atlas's roster
- Bedrock Wine Co.bottled
Winery · Carlisle Vineyard, Dolinsek Ranch, Heritage Wine and 2 more
- Ridge Vineyardsbottled
Winery · Ridge Belloni Zinfandel 2024, Ridge Geyserville Vineyard 2024, Ridge Lytton Springs 2024 and 1 more
- Vintner's Select Clublisted
Brand · Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Alicante Bouschet, Carignane
3 of this atlas’s 2772 curated producers, 2 of them with a named wine in the atlas made from it. A roster is not a census — this is who the atlas has entered, not who grows the grape in California.
Measured chemistry, from one producer's own sheets
- 7% alicante bouschet
14.9 %
alcohol
—
pH
—
TA
—
RS
Ridge Old School Zinfandel 2024
3% alicante bouschet15.7 %
alcohol
3.7
pH
6.68 g/L
TA
—
RS
Ridge Geyserville Vineyard 2024
2% alicante bouschet14.6 %
alcohol
3.68
pH
5.2 g/L
TA
—
RS
Ridge Lytton Springs 2024
2% alicante bouschet14.5 %
alcohol
3.78
pH
6.66 g/L
TA
—
RS
4 wines from 1 producer, each read from that producer’s own tech sheet and linked to it. No average is shown, and none should be computed from these. Wineries that publish tech sheets are selected by their own marketing departments, so a mean across them describes publishing habits rather than a grape.