Jean de Telmont "1975 Heritage" 1975

Wine making grape

Pinot Meunier, also known as Meunier or Schwarzriesling, is a black wine grape variety best known for being one of the three main varieties used in the manufacture of Champagne. Until recently, Champagne producers largely ignored Pinot Meunier, choosing to focus on the use of other noble varieties, but Pinot Meunier is now gaining popularity for the body and richness it adds to Champagne. Pinot Meunier accounts for about one-third of all Champagne grapes planted. It’s a chimeric Pinot mutation in which the inner cell layers are made up of a Pinot genotype that’s identical to Pinot noir or Pinot gris, but the outer, epidermal, layer is made up of a mutant, distinct genotype. The name Pinot Meunier comes from the flour-like dusty white down on the underside of its leaves, which was first mentioned in the 16th century.