Pinot Meunier

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), Carneros AVA (USA)
Notable wines	Champagne, Soaring Eagles (Lang Estates) Okanagan Valley

Pinot Meunier, pronounced: [pi.no mø.nje], also known as Meunier or Schwarzriesling, is a variety of black wine grape most noted for being one of the three main varieties used in the production of Champagne (the other two are the black 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 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, 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.

Pinot Meunier can be identified by ampelographers by its indented leaves that appear downy white, like flour 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 (see below) also hearkening to this association-such as "Dusty Miller" which is used in England, "Farineaux" and "Noirin Enfariné" used in France as well as "Müllerrebe" and "Müller-Traube" used in Germany. 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.