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THE PROFESSOR
Dr. Carole Meredith spent more than 20 years in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California, Davis, America's premier academic university devoted to the science of grapegrowing and winemaking. Meredith's main focus of study is grape genetics and her research has used DNA typing methods to discover the origins of some of the greatest old wine varieties, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Syrah, and most recently Zinfandel. She recently retired from academic life to concentrate on making wine herself alongside her husband Steve Lagier. Together they produce some great Napa Valley Syrah under their Lagier Meredith label.
WAVEY
David Graves is co-founder along with Richard Ward of Saintsbury Vineyards. Dave's fascination with grapegrowing, winemaking, wine drinking and esoterica know no bounds.
David Graves: How old are Pinot noir and Chardonnay, or better, when do we first read about them in the historical record?
Dr. Carole Meredith: This question is easier to answer for Pinot noir than it is for Chardonnay.
Pinot noir was already being grown in Burgundy when the Romans arrived there 2,000 years ago. The Roman agricultural writer Columella described a grape variety in the 1st century A.D. that was most likely Pinot noir. So we're pretty sure that Pinot is at least 2,000 years old.
The age of Chardonnay is more difficult to pin down. It must be younger than Pinot because Pinot is one of its parents. But it can't be older than the date at which its other parent, Gouais blanc, was introduced to France, which was probably in the 3rd century A.D. Chardonnay has been confused with other varieties (e.g., Pinot blanc and Melon) and has had many names, so it's not at all clear when Chardonnay first appeared. It seems to have been recognized as a distinct variety by the 1300's, but it might have already been around for a while before that. So the best we can say is that Chardonnay is probably at least 700 years old, but could be as much as 1700 years old.
Where did Pinot Noir and Chardonnay come from?
Pinot noir most likely came from northeastern France or southwestern Germany. It is not that far removed from the wild vines of that region—perhaps only 1 or 2 generations.
Chardonnay was definitely born in Burgundy.
What gives rise to a "new" variety?
A new variety starts as a single seedling plant that has 2 parent vines—a male parent that contributes the pollen to the female parent that bears the fruit. Today this cross-pollination can be done deliberately by a grape breeder but until about 200 years ago, all cross pollination between grapevines was natural. All of our classic wine varieties seem to be the result of natural cross pollination between two parent varieties.
When the fruit on the female parent vine gets ripe, it falls to the ground or is eaten by an animal and the seeds inside the fruit will eventually germinate and grow into new grapevines. Each seedling grapevine is different than each of the two parents and also different from all the other seedlings of those two parents. So even though two parent grapevines may produce a lot of seedlings, a variety that is their offspring comes from only one of those seedlings. All the vines of a variety that are in existence today in vineyards all over the world have been propagated over many years by cuttings or buds from that first single seedling grapevine.
What are the parents of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay?
The parents of Chardonnay are Pinot and Gouais blanc. We say Pinot instead of Pinot noir or Pinot blanc or Pinot gris because those three are all color forms of the same variety and all three have the same DNA profile. So DNA studies of parentage cannot distinguish between them. So we know one of the parents of Chardonnay was a form of Pinot.
The other parent of Chardonnay is Gouais blanc. This is a variety that was once very widely grown in northeastern France. It was considered a mediocre variety and was grown only by the peasants and on the land not considered good enough for the noble Pinot noir. Gouais blanc is not a French variety. It is a Central European variety and may have been brought to France by the Romans. The Roman Emperor Probus was from what is now Croatia and in the 3rd century A.D. he is said to have given the Gauls a gift of a grape from his homeland. This may well have been Gouais blanc.
I have read information to the effect that "Pinot noir is genetically unstable." What do people mean by that?
Sometimes one part of a Pinot noir vine will look different than the rest of the vine. Perhaps the leaves will be more hairy or the fruit will be a different color. This is largely because the fruit color and leaf appearance of a grapevine are determined by the outer layer of cells. The inner layer of cells is sometimes genetically different than the outer layer. Every once in a while, an inner cell will make its way to the outer layer and its genetic difference may eventually become visible if it becomes part of a bud that produces a shoot.
But these layers exist in all grape varieties. Why the differences seem to appear more frequently in Pinot than other varieties is simply not known. One reason may be that Pinot is older than almost all other grape varieties, so that there has been more time for genetic differences to accumulate in the inner cell layer. But there may well be other reasons too that we simply don't understand yet.
What is a clone? Why are there so many? Are they all different? How do those differences arise?
A clone is a variant within a variety that has some difference of interest to grape growers and/or winemakers. The older the variety is, the more variants exist within the variety because there has been more time for the differences to arise. The differences can be in visible features like berry size or cluster shape or they can be differences in such things as aroma or acidity. Pinot noir, being among the oldest of all the varieties, has many known clones. Chardonnay, being somewhat younger, has a smaller number of clones. A relatively young variety like Cabernet Sauvignon has only a few clones and they are not very different from each other.
Lots of clonal variation will exist in old vineyards in the original home of a variety (such as old Burgundy vineyards for Pinot or Chardonnay), but a variant only really becomes a "clone" when a variant vine is identified by someone as being of interest and cuttings are taken from it and then given a name or number and propagated separately.
A clonal difference arises as the result of a naturally occurring mutation in a single cell in the growing point of a grapevine shoot. As the cell multiplies, with time it will come to occupy a larger and larger proportion of the cells in the shoot tip. The shoot tip may eventually consist entirely of this new type of cell and eventually an entire shoot may carry the new mutation uniformly in every leaf and every berry. If the mutation affects something of interest to growers and/or winemakers, such as berry size or fruit color or flavor, then the part of the vine that has the new characteristic may be preferentially chosen as a source of buds or cuttings for new vines. But if a mutation does not affect something of interest, then it may never be noticed at all and may or may not persist in the vineyard, by chance alone.
Why were Pinot Noir and Chardonnay the dominant grapes in Burgundy and not in Bordeaux, for example?
Pinot noir probably arose from a wild grapevine in Burgundy (or nearby in Champagne or southwestern Germany). Its parents or grandparents were likely wild vines. For that reason, it is well adapted to the cool growing conditions of Burgundy. The quality of the wine from Pinot noir was well-recognized 2,000 years ago as the best of any grape in the area and so the variety was widely planted by those who were wealthy enough to grow crops other than those needed for subsistence. (But there were very few other varieties in existence at that time, so there weren't many varieties to choose from.) So Pinot was a dominant grape in Burgundy because it was born in that region and produced fruit of recognized quality.
Chardonnay was widely planted in Burgundy because it was also recognized for its superior wine. Like Pinot, Chardonnay too was born in that region.
Neither variety could have been dominant in Bordeaux because both varieties were born in northeastern France, which is nowhere near the Bordeaux region, and grape varieties were not shared much between different parts of France. (An exception is Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon blanc, which both became important in both the Loire and Bordeaux regions.) Had Pinot and Chardonnay, by chance, been taken to Bordeaux long ago, they might have become important there. The Bordeaux environment would probably not have brought out the best in Pinot noir, which performs better in cooler places than Bordeaux, but Chardonnay would have done well there.
Are Ruländer, Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio all the same variety?
Yes. They are all just different names for the same variety. It's called Ruländer or Grauer Burgunder in Germany, Pinot gris in France and Pinot Grigio in Italy. Similarly, Pinot noir is called Spätburgunder in Germany and Pinot nero in Italy.
Most of the old winegrapes have different names in different places. In France alone, at least 30 different names are known for Pinot noir (and more than 40 for Chardonnay!).
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