| Pinot Meunier | |
|---|---|
| Grape (Vitis) | |
| Pinot Meunier grapes in Champagne | |
| Color of berry skin | Noir |
| Species | Vitis vinifera |
| Also called | Meunier, Schwarzriesling, Müllerrebe, Miller's Burgundy |
| Origin | France? |
| Notable regions | Champagne (France), Württemberg (Germany), Oregon (USA), Okanagan Valley (British Columbia, Canada) |
| Notable wines | Champagne, Soaring Eagles (Lang Estates) Okanagan Valley |
Pinot Meunier, pronounced: [pi.no mø.nje], also known as Meunier or Black Riesling, is a variety of black wine grape most noted for being one of the three main grapes used in the production of champagne (the other two are the black Pinot noir and the white Chardonnay). Until recently, champagne makers did not acknowledge Pinot Meunier, preferring to emphasise the use of the other noble varieties, but now Pinot Meunier is gaining recognition for the body and richness it contributes to champagne. It is believed to be a mutation of Pinot noir. It was first mentioned in the 16th century,[1] and gets its name and synonyms (French meunier and German Müller - both meaning miller) from flour-like dusty white down on the underside of its leaves.[2]
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Pinot Meunier can be identified by ampelographers by its indented leaves that appear downy white, like flour has been dusted on the underside of the leaf. The name "Meunier" comes from the French word for miller with many of the grapevine's synonyms (see below) also hearkening to this association-such as "Dusty Miller" which is used in England, "Farineux" and "Noirin Enfariné" used in France as well as "Müllerrebe" and "Müller-Traube" used in Germany. This characteristics derives from fine white hairs on the underside of the leaves. However, some clones of Pinot Meunier have been found to be completely hairless which has led ampelographers to more closely draw a link between Meunier and Pinot noir.[3]
Paul K. Boss and Mark R. Thomas of the CSIRO Plant Industry and Cooperative Research Centre for Viticulture in Glen Osmond, Australia, found that the meunier strain has a mutation (VvGAI1) that stops it from responding to gibberellic acid, a plant growth hormone. This leads to different leaf growth, and also to a slight stunting in growth, explaining why Pinot meunier plants tend to be a bit smaller than Pinot noirs. The mutation exist only in one cell layer of the cultivar, the L1 layer of the epidermis, making Pinot Meunier a chimera. This makes it possible, through tissue culture, to separate out plants containing both the mutant and non-mutant genotypes, yielding a normal Pinot noir type and an unusual looking mutant vine with compressed internodes and thickly clustered leaves. The mutants could not produce full-grown tendrils, it seems that gibberellic acid converts grapevine flower buds into tendrils.[1]
Pinot Meunier is one of the most widely planted grapes in France but it is rather obscure to most wine drinkers and will rarely be seen on a wine label. The grape has been favored by vine growers in northern France due to its ability to bud and ripen more reliably than Pinot noir. The vine's tendency to bud later in the growing season and ripen earlier makes it less susceptible to developing coulure which can greatly reduce a prospective crop. For the last couple of centuries, Pinot Meunier has been the most widely planted Champagne grape, accounting for more than 40% of the region's entire plantings. It is most prevalent in the cooler, north facing vineyards of the Vallee de la Marne and in the Aisne department. It is also widely grown in the Aube region in vineyards where Pinot noir and Chardonnay would not fully ripen.[3]
Compared to Pinot noir, Pinot Meunier produces lighter colored wines with slightly higher acid levels but can maintain similar sugar and alcohol levels. As part of a standard champagne blend, Pinot Meunier contributes aromatics and fruity flavors to the wine. Champagnes with a substantial proportion of Pinot Meunier tend not to have as much significant aging potential as champagnes that are composed primarily of Chardonnay or Pinot noir.[2] It is therefore most commonly used for champagnes that are intended to be consumed young, when the soft, plushy fruit of the Pinot Meunier is at its peak. A notable exception is the Champagne house of Krug which makes liberal use of Pinot Meunier in its long-lived prestige cuvees.[3]
During the 19th century, Pinot Meunier was widely planted throughout northern France, especially in the Paris basin. It was found across the northern half of country from the Loire Valley to Lorraine.[3] Today, Pinot Meunier is found outside of Champagne in dwindling quantities in the Loire Valley regions of Touraine and Orleans as well as the Cotes de Toul and Moselle regions. In these regions Pinot Meunier is used to make light bodied reds and rosés.[2] These wines most often fall into the vin gris style are characterized by their pale pink color and distinctive smokey notes.[3]
In Germany, Pinot Meunier is used most often to make still red wines under its synonyms Schwarzriesling, Müllerrebe and Müller-Traube. The style of those wines ranges from simple, light, off-dry (halbtrocken) to rich, dry with substantial flavors. More recently, Schwarzriesling is used also to make dry white wines with a fresh, fruity character. Most German plantings of the variety (1,795 hectares (4,440 acres) out of 2,424 hectares (5,990 acres), or 74%, in the year 2006) are found in Württemberg.[4] Here it is used to make a local speciality known as Schillerwein which is characterized by it light pink color, smokey noted and slightly higher acidity than wines made from Spätburgunder (Pinot noir). Some growers in Württemberg have been promoting a particular clone of Pinot Meunier that has developed in the region known as Samtrot. Pinot Meunier is also found in significant quantities in the German wine regions of Baden, Franconia and Palatinate.[3] Despite the variety's connection with Champagne, it only recently become popular to use Schwarzriesling in the production of sparkling wines Sekt, often not blended with its Champagne partners but as pure brut Schwarzriesling "Sekt". Pinot Meunier is also grown in the German speaking parts of Switzerland and in small quantities in Austria.[2]
In California, American sparkling wine producers wishing to emulate the Champagne method began planting Pinot Meunier in the 1980s. Today most of the state's plantings are located in the Carneros AVA. In Australia, the grape has had a longer history in Australian wine production than Pinot noir. In the Grampians region of Victoria, Pinot Meunier was known at one time as Miller's Burgundy and used to make still red varietal wine. In the late 20th century plantings were starting to decline until a revival of Champagne-style sparkling wine took hold in the 2000s which sparked renewed interest in Pinot Meunier.[2] The New Zealand wine industry has recently discovered Pinot Meunier for both still & sparkling wine production. As a varietal red wine, Pinot Meunier tends to produce slightly jammy, fruit wines with moderate acidity and low tannins.[2]
Ferdinand Regner has proposed[5] that Pinot Meunier (Schwarzriesling) is a parent of Pinot noir but this work has not been replicated and would appear to be superseded by the Australian work.[6]
The Wrotham (pronounced "rootum") Pinot is an English variety of Pinot noir that is sometimes regarded as a synonym of Pinot Meunier. The Wrotham Pinot does look somewhat similar to Meunier, with white hairs on the upper surface of the leaves. But it is particularly resistant to disease, has a higher natural sugar content and ripens two weeks earlier than Meunier.[7]
Pinot Meunier is known under various synonyms across the globe including-Auvernat Meunier, Blanc Meunier, Blanche Feuille, Carpinet, Cerny Mancujk, Créedinet, Dusty Miller, Farineux Noir, Fernaise, Frésillon, Fromenté, Frühe blaue Müllerrebe, Goujeau, Gris Meunier, Meunier, Meunier Gris, Miller Grape, Miller's Burgundy, Molnar Toke, Molnar Toke Kek, Molnarszölö, Morillon Tacone, Morone Farinaccio, Moucnik, Müllerrebe, Muller-Traube, Noirin Enfariné, Noirien de Vuillapans, Pineau Meunier, Pino Meine, Pinot Negro, Plant de Brie, Plant Meunier, Plant Munier, Postitschtraube, Rana Modra Mlinaria, Rana Modra Mlinarica, Resseau, Riesling Noir, Sarpinet, Trézillon and Wrotham Pinot.