Durif produces tannic wines with a spicy, plummy flavour. The grape originated as a cross of Syrah pollen germinating a Peloursin plant. On some occasions, Peloursin and Syrah vines may be called Petite Sirah, usually because the varieties are extremely difficult to distinguish in old age. In the 1860s the French botanist François Durif kept a nursery of several grape varieties at his home in the commune of Tullins where he most likely had plantings of both Peloursin and Syrah. At some point the two vines cross pollinated and Durif discovered a new grape variety growing in his nursery. It was
Petite mutation be induced using a variety of mutagens, including DNA intercalating agents, as well as chemicals that can interfere with DNA synthesis in growing cells. Mutagens that create Petites are implicated in increased rates of degenerative diseases and in the aging process. A mutation that produces small (petite" > petite) anaerobic-like colonies had shown first in Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and described by Boris Ephrussi and his co-workers in 1949 in Gif-sur-Yvette, France. The cells of petite colonies were smaller than those of wild-type colonies, but the term “petite” refers only to colony size and not the individual cell size. Over 50