Bobal Blanco (sometimes referred to as Tortosi) is a white wine grape from the east coast of Spain. Although nearly extinct, it is grown in small quantities around Valencia.
DNA profiling has confirmed that Bobal Blanco bears no genetic relation to the better-known dark-skinned Bobal, which also hails from this Mediterranean corner of Spain. It is very likely that the two varieties were once grown side by side, and were treated as red and white variations of one another, whence the names. The word Bobal means 'bull', and is apparently a reference to the shape of the Bobal berry clusters, which resemble a bull's head.
Unlike its black-skinned namesake, Bobal Blanco does not appear to have made the journey across the western Mediterranean to Sardinia. Its plantings seem entirely limited to Spain's west coast.
Synonyms include: Tortosi.
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