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Petit Courbu is a light-skinned white wine grape variety grown in the Sud-Ouest wine region of south-western of France. Although it was once teetering on the brink of extinction, Petit Courbu has enjoyed something of a comeback in the past few decades, albeit a minor one when compared to the famous revival of the Rhone's Viognier.
Petit Courbu, whose name means 'little curved one', is also known simply as Corbu. It being a white (blanc) grape, this can lead to confusion with Corbu Blanc, a variety which is only very subtly different. French ampelographer Pierre Galet recognizes the two varieties as distinct due to the difference between their leaves; Courbu Blanc's are slightly darker in the spring. Both varieties seem to have originated in Gascony (a vaguely defined province of south-western pre-revolutionary France) and both contribute a subtle honeyed, citrus aroma to the area's white wines. Both Petit Courbu and Courbu Blanc are used in the sweet and dry wines of Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh and Jurancon and the dry whites of Irouleguy.
Petit Courbu can additionally be used in the whites of Saint-Mont (formerly Cotes de Saint-Mont), where Courbu Blanc is not permitted.
Petit Courbu is rarely used to make varietal wines, and is typically blended with the likes of Arrufiac and the Mansengs (Petit Manseng and Gros Manseng) as well as increasing proportions of the ever-more-popular Sauvignon Blanc. For examples and information on Manseng/Courbu blends, see Mansengs-Petit Courbu.
A mutated dark-skinned form of the Courbu grapes exists, although this is closer to extinction than either of its lighter cousins has been. Courbu Noir is thought only to be grown around Bearn, (near Pau in Jurancon country), also in the south-west corner of France.
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