Pinot Meunier (), also known as Meunier or Schwarzriesling (), is a variety of red

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

most noted for being one of the three main varieties used in the production of Champagne (the other two are the red variety Pinot noir and the white Chardonnay). Until recently, producers in Champagne generally 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. Pinot Meunier is approximately one-third of all the grapes planted in Champagne. It is a chimeric

mutation In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, ...

of Pinot: its inner cell layers are composed of a Pinot genotype which is close to Pinot noir or Pinot gris; the outer, epidermal, layer is, however, made up of a mutant, distinctive, genotype. Pinot Meunier was first mentioned in the 16th century,Association of dwarfism and floral induction with a grape 'green revolution' mutation
Boss & Thomas, ''Nature'' 416, 847-850 (25 April 2002). 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. Jancis Robinson (ed) ''The Oxford Companion to Wine'' Third Edition pp. 440–441 Oxford University Press 2006 .

Ampelography

Pinot Meunier can be identified by ampelographers by its indented leaves that appear downy white, like

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

has been dusted liberally on the underside, and lightly on the upper side, of the leaf. The name "Meunier" comes from the French word for miller with many of the grapevine's

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

(see below) also hearkening to this association—such as "Dusty Miller" which is used in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, "Farineaux" and "Noirin Enfariné" used in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

as well as "Müllerrebe" and "Müller-Traube" used in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. This characteristic derives from large numbers of fine white hairs on the leaves. However, some clones of Pinot Meunier have been found to be completely hairless—a chimeric mutation, in fact—which has led ampelographers to more closely draw a link between Meunier and Pinot noir.Oz Clarke ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' p. 138 Harcourt Books 2001 . In research, Paul K. Boss and Mark R. Thomas of the CSIRO Plant Industry and Cooperative Research Centre for Viticulture in Glen Osmond,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, found that Pinot Meunier has a mutation (''VvGAI1'') that stops it from responding to gibberellic acid, a plant growth hormone. This leads to different, white-haired, leaf and shoot growth, and also to a slight stunting in growth, explaining why Pinot Meunier plants tend to be a bit smaller than Pinot noir. The mutation exists only in the outermost cell layer of the cultivar, the L1 or 'epidermal' layer, meaning Pinot Meunier is a chimera. Through tissue culture, it is thus possible to separate out plants containing both the mutant (L1) and non-mutant (L2) genotypes, yielding a normal Pinot noir -like genotype and an unusual looking L1-genotype 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.

Wine regions

Pinot Meunier is one of the most widely planted grapes in

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 Aisne ( , ; ; ) is a French departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne (river), Aisne. In 2020, it had a population of 529,374. Geography The department borders No ...

department. It is also widely grown in 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),

region in vineyards where Pinot noir and Chardonnay would not fully ripen. Compared to Pinot noir, Pinot Meunier produces lighter colored wines with slightly higher acid levels but can maintain similar

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

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. 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 cuvee''s. 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. 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

rosé A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the wine color, color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the Macerati ...

s. These wines most often fall into the ''vin gris'' style are characterized by their pale pink color and distinctive smoky notes.

Other regions

, 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 ( out of , or 74%, in the year 2006) are found in Württemberg. Here it is used to make a local speciality known as ''Schillerwein'' which is characterized by its light pink color, smoky 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. 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 Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and in small quantities in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. In

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, 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. Bouchaine Vineyards, Mumm Napa and Domaine Chandon are a few wineries in all of the Napa Valley to produce a still Pinot Meunier. In

, the grape has had a longer history in

Australian wine The Australian wine industry is one of the world's largest exporters of wine, with approximately 800 million out of the 1.2 to 1.3 billion litres produced annually exported to overseas markets. The wine industry is a significant contributor ...

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. The New Zealand wine industry has recently discovered Pinot Meunier for both still &

sparkling wine production Sparkling wine production is the method of winemaking used to produce sparkling wine. The oldest known production of sparkling wine took place in 1531 with the ''ancestral method''. Pressure and terminology In popular parlance and also in the ...

. As a varietal red wine, Pinot Meunier tends to produce slightly jammy, fruity wines with moderate acidity and low tannins.

Possible relationships

Ferdinand Regner has proposed''Genetic Relationships Among Pinots and Related Cultivars''
Regner, Stadlbauer, Eisenheld & Kaserer ''Am. J. Enol. Vitic''. 51:1:7–14 (2000). 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. The Wrotham (pronounced "rootum") Pinot is an English selection of Pinot 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.History of English wine
No genetic evidence exists however to prove it is anything other than a distinctively named clone of Pinot Meunier.

Synonyms

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, Molnár Töke, Molnár Töke Kék, Molnárszölö, 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.

References