Pierre Galet

Pierre Galet (born January 28, 1921) is a French ampelographer and author who was an influential figure within ampelography in the 20th century and before DNA typing was widely introduced. Beginning in the 1950s, Pierre Galet introduced a system for identifying varieties based on the shape, contours and characteristics of the leaves of the vines, petioles, growing shoots, shoot tips, grape clusters, as well as the colour, size, seed content and flavour of the grapes. The impact and comprehensiveness of his work earned him the consideration as the "father of modern ampelography". He started publishing within ampelography in the 1950s and his Ph.D. thesis was presented in 1967. He has also written popular science books on grape varieties. Galet was active at the École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Montpellier.

Pierre Galet was born in Monaco in 1921 and spent most his life in southern France. During World War II, Galet hid from the German authorities at the University of Montpellier. There he spent extensive amounts of time among the Department of Viticulture's Vitis collection which included samples of grapevines from across the globe. While there he was able to study the differences and learn about the different varieties. After the war, Galet would accept a teaching position at the University where from 1946-1989, he was at the forefront of advances in ampelography and was the mentor to several of the leading ampelographers of the late 20th century. Among his students was Paul Truel, who would categorized and identify several wine grapes varieties in Australia and Portugal. In addition to teaching, Galet traveled to wine regions in the United States, South America, Cyprus, North Africa, Asia and throughout Europe identify grape varieties and settling legal disputes involving them. One such legal dispute involved the European Union regulations banning the use of American Vitis Labrusca vines, such as Isabella and Noah, in European vineyards. Galet has long been an advocate against forcing the mandatory uprooting of these vines, believing the ban is anachronistic.

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