Beaunoir () is a traditional
French variety of red wine grape that is a sibling of
Chardonnay
Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...
. The 'beautiful black' grape produces a thin wine and not much is grown these days.
History
DNA fingerprinting
DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting and genetic fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a species, rather than an individual, is cal ...
has shown that it is one of many grapes to be the result of a cross between
Gouais blanc
Gouais blanc () or Weißer Heunisch () is a white grape variety that is seldom grown today but is important as the ancestor of many traditional French and German grape varieties. The name ''Gouais'' derives from the old French adjective ‘ ...
(Heunisch) and
Pinot, making it a full sibling of famous varieties such as Chardonnay and
Aligoté
Aligoté is a white grape used to make dry white wines, especially in the Burgundy region of France where it was first recorded in the 18th century.winepros.com.au. Since it is tolerant to cold, this variety is also cultivated in Eastern Eur ...
. Gouais blanc was widely grown by the French peasantry in the Medieval ages. This offered many opportunities for hybridisation, and the offspring benefited from hybrid vigour as the parents were genetically quite different.
Other Gouais blanc/Pinot crosses include
Aubin vert,
Auxerrois,
Bachet noir,
Franc Noir de la-Haute-Saône,
Gamay Blanc Gloriod,
Gamay noir,
Melon
A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. It can also specifically refer to ''Cucumis melo'', commonly known as the "true melon" or simply "melon". The term "melon" can apply to both the p ...
,
Knipperlé,
Peurion,
Romorantin,
Roublot, and
Sacy
Viticulture
Beaunoir is quite vigorous, producing small compact bunches of small grapes.
Wine regions
Like
Bachet noir, Beaunoir has almost disappeared from its home in Châtillon-sur-Seine and the
Aube
Aube ( ) is a French departments of France, department in the Grand Est region of northeastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube (river), Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019), , between Champagne and Burgundy. The wine is very ordinary, with low alcohol and little color.
Synonyms
Cep Gris, Co Gris, Mourillon, Pinot D'Ai, Pinot D'Orleans, Seau Gris, Sogris
References
External links
VIVC Bibliography
{{Wines
Red wine grape varieties