| Beaunoir | |
|---|---|
| Grape (Vitis) | |
 | |
| Color of berry skin | Noir |
| Species | Vitis vinifera |
| Also called | Pinot D'Orleans (more) |
| Origin | France |
| VIVC number | 1062 |
Beaunoir is a traditional French variety of red wine grape that is a sibling of Chardonnay. The 'beautiful black' grape produces a thin wine and not much is grown these days.
DNA fingerprinting has shown that it is one of many grapes to be the result of a cross between Gouais blanc (Heunisch) and Pinot, making it a full sibling of famous varieties such as Chardonnay and Aligoté. 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, Knipperlé, Peurion, Romorantin, Roublot, and Sacy
Beaunoir is quite vigorous, producing small compact bunches of small grapes.
Like Bachet noir, Beaunoir has almost disappeared from its home in Châtillon-sur-Seine and the Aube, between Champagne and Burgundy. The wine is very ordinary, with low alcohol and little color.
Cep Gris, Co Gris, Mourillon, Pinot D'Ai, Pinot D'Orleans, Seau Gris, Sogris [1]
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 and developing wine regions, growing Chardonnay is seen as a 'rite of passage' and an easy entry into the international wine market.
Pinot Noir is a red-wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French words for pine and black. The word pine alludes to the grape variety having tightly clustered, pinecone–shaped bunches of fruit.
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 ‘gou’, a term of derision befitting its traditional status as the grape of the peasants. Likewise, the German name Weißer Heunisch labels it as one of the lesser "Hunnic" grapes.
Romorantin is a traditional French variety of white wine grape, that is a sibling of Chardonnay. Once quite widely grown in the Loire, it has now only seen in the Cour-Cheverny AOC. It produces intense, minerally wines somewhat reminiscent of Chablis.
Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) for wine from the region of Burgundy in France. Most Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains, which is sometimes written unhyphenated as Bourgogne Passetoutgrains, is red although rosé wine may also be produced. Unlike other Burgundy wines, which are primarily produced from a single grape variety, Bourgogne Passe-Tout-Grains is essentially a cuvée of Gamay and Pinot noir.
Sacy is a white wine grape grown primarily in the central and northeastern France within the Yonne and Allier départments.
Auxerrois blanc or Auxerrois Blanc de Laquenexy is a white wine grape that is important in Alsace, and is also grown in Germany and Luxembourg. It is a full sibling of Chardonnay that is often blended with the similar Pinot blanc.
Petit Meslier is a rare white wine grape that is a minor component of some Champagne blends. It is valued for its ability to retain acidity even in hot vintages. In the very rare cases where it is not blended, it makes crisp wines tasting of apples. The Traminer family of grapes can be difficult to grow, with poor disease resistance and low yields.
Bachet noir is a traditional French variety of red wine grape that is a sibling of Chardonnay. A little is still grown in the Aube, where it is used to add colour and body to Gamay wines.
Franc Noir de la Haute-Saône is a traditional French variety of red wine grape that is a sibling of Chardonnay. It makes thin, tart wine and has largely disappeared from cultivation.
Gamay Blanc Gloriod is an obscure French variety of white wine grape. Very little of it is grown commercially.
Knipperlé is a traditional French variety of white wine grape from Alsace. It's not listed for use in AOC wine, but is a minor component of blends for local drinking, in some ways an Alsatian equivalent of its sibling Aligoté in Burgundy.
Peurion is a traditional French variety of white wine grape that is a sibling of Chardonnay. Once quite popular, not much is still grown in France these days.
Roublot is a traditional French variety of white wine grape that is a sibling of Chardonnay. It was once quite widely grown near Auxerre.
Dameron is a traditional French variety of red wine grape that is a sibling of Gamay. Its wines are somewhat weightier than Gamay, but it is disappearing from its traditional areas in northern France. Not much is grown in France these days.
A division of grape varieties into Frankish and Hunnic grape varieties was practiced in German-speaking countries in the Middle Ages and separated varieties considered to be better from those considered to be lesser. Frankish (fränkisch) grapes were considered noble grapes, and the designation derived from the Franks, as popular belief held that those were grapes introduced by Charlemagne or at least through his edicts. Hunnic grapes, on the other hand, were the simpler varieties.
Touraine is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) in the Loire Valley wine region in France that produce dry, white wines and red wines rich in tannins. The AOC status was awarded by a decree of December 24, 1939. The wine-growing area extends over 5,300 hectares departments of Indre-et-Loire, Indre and Loir-et-Cher and comprises a total of 70 communes and it is thus a "subregional" appellation covering the same area as a number of local AOCs.
Aubin vert is a white French wine grape variety that is grown in the Lorraine region where it is an authorized variety for the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) wines of the Moselle. While often confused for the Côtes de Toul grape Aubin blanc, DNA analysis in 1999 showed that Aubin vert was the result of a crossing of Gouais blanc with Pinot. This makes the grape a half-sibling to Aubin blanc but full sibling to Chardonnay, Aligoté, Gamay and Melon de Bourgogne.
Gouget noir is a red French wine grape variety that is grown in the Allier and Cher departments of central France. The grape was once widely planted with almost 17,000 hectares in the mid-19th century but the phylloxera epidemic greatly diminished it numbers and as of 2008 there was just 10 hectares of the grape planted in France.
Gueuche noir is a red French wine grape variety that has been historically grown in the Franche-Comté of eastern France but is now close to being extinct. Though its exact relationship has not yet been determined by DNA analysis, ampelographers believe that the grape variety is closely related to the Hunnic grape Gouais blanc which is notable for being the mother vine to several grape varieties including Chardonnay and Gamay. There also might be a relationship between Gueuche noir and the Jura wine grape Enfariné noir.
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