THE ORIGINS
The exact origin of Meunier is still unknown, but it is believed to come from Burgundy. Ferdinand Regner, director of the vineyard department at the Federal Office for Agriculture in Klosterneuburg (in Austria), assumed that Meunier was a natural cross between Pinot Noir and Traminer.
However, genetic analyzes by biologist Carole Meredith tend to contradict this theory. Meunier is indeed rather a mutation of Pinot Noir: one would think that the lower surface of the leaves was covered with flour, so hairy they are. There are large areas of plantation in France, and in particular in Champagne, where it is the authorized grape variety in the assembly of champagne alongside Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. It is mainly cultivated in the Marne Valley.
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE MEUNIER
Where does its qualifier of "Miller " come from when it comes directly from a stock of royal race?
Quite simply because the whitish and fluffy aspect of its leaves gives the impression that they are covered with flour. Its family tree has nothing to be ashamed of with other grape varieties qualified as noble. It is in fact the half-brother of Pinot Noir with which it shares the same organic characteristics.
(deep indentations in the leaves, compactness of the grains, high level of glucose, enzymes, pigments, organic acids, etc.)
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This shameless vine loves new adventures
Flirting with pollens from other grape varieties delighted her. Perhaps she instinctively seeks to avoid the dangers of forced inbreeding ? At first modest, the flower bud remains hermetically closed. Its petals, of a soft green, located at the base of the bud, remain firmly united by a viscous substance, thus forming an inverted calyx. The young bride jealously watches her virginal lips, inaccessible to digging caterpillars as to passionate foragers.
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These delicate floral vulvae do not open until the arrival of its chosen pollen. He alone knows how to solicit his beauty by his magic recipe composed of enzymes intended to soften the corolla.