Grapevine cultivar 'Alfrocheiro' or 'Bruñal' plays a primary role in the relationship among Iberian grapevines

The grapevine cultivar known in Portugal as 'Alfrocheiro', and in Spain as 'Bastardo Negro', 'Brunal' or 'Baboso Negro', plays a central role in the genetic network of the Iberian Peninsula grapevine cultivars. Three sets of different molecular markers, SNPs, nSSRs and cpSSRs, revealed more than twenty parent-offspring links with this cultivar. 'Alfrocheiro' chlorotype is definitely Western European but their parents are still unknown. The distribution of the cultivar, their offspring as well as the two main co-parents direct to a geographic origin around the Portuguese and Spanish border. This cultivar and their progenies represent about 15 % of the total grapevine acreage in Portugal, stressing the importance of 'Alfrocheiro' in the Portuguese wine character.