Pinot Meunier

Meunier, also called Pinot Meunier, is one of three grape varieties used to make Champagne, the others being Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. It is also used to make dry red wines, and in some areas such as the Loire Valley, it is used for rose wines.

Much of the production of this red wine variety ends up in colourless, bland fizzy drinks

Sparkling wines made in other parts of the world also use Pinot Meunier but they cannot be called Champagne. Although both Pinot Noir and Meunier are both red wine grapes they can be used to make white wine if the juice is removed from the skins immediately on crushing. Most grape varieties have white (clear) juice, the colouring comes mainly from the skins. Rose wines, both still and sparkling are made by leaving the skins in the juice for just a few hours.

The Origins of meunier

Best's Great Western Pinot Meunier

This variety is in fact a mutation of Pinot Noir, rather than a distinct variety. See this article for an explanation about varieties and clones. Pinot Gris/Grigio and Pinot Blanc are also mutations of Pinot Noir, but all are regarded as different varieties.

The Meunier part of the name is the French word for "miller" because the underside of the leaves are covered with fine hairs giving the impression that they have been dusted with flour.

Some other synonyms are Dusty Miller, Miller's Burgundy, Gris Meunier, Farineux Noir, Mullertraube, Blanche Feuille, Schwartzriesling, Morillon Tacone.

Meunier is an early maturing variety, a characteristic it shares with Pinot noir. It can thus produce wines with considerable character in cooler climates such as Northern France and Germany. and it tends to retain acidity which is a plus for grapes used to make base wines for sparkling wine.

In Australia there have been increased plantings of Meunier as growers are looking to replicate the varietal composition of Champagne, but there is also renewed interest in its use for producing dry reds and rose.

Over many decades Bests at Great Western have produced an excellent dry red from this variety; for a long time it was a beacon for those who wanted a wine with good flavour without the intense colour, jamminess and huge body of other red wines of that era.

Pinot Meunier in Australia

Most of the Australian production of this variety finds its way into Champagne lookalikes.  But a few producers, such as those listed below have used it to make a dry red style.

• Aramis Hunter Valley
• Barringwood Park Northern Tasmania
• Bests Grampians
• Bochara Henty
• Centennial Vineyards Southern Highlands
• Charles Melton Barossa Valley
• Circe Mornington Peninsula
• Collector Wines Canberra
• Courabyra Wines Tumbarumba
• Eminence King Valley
• Fikkers Wine Yarra Valley
• Fitz and Gibbon Adelaide Hills
• Grampians Estate Grampians
• Grey Sands Northern Tasmania
• Harcourt Valley Bendigo
• Henty Farm Henty
• Heros Vineyard Geelong
• Hungerford Hill Hunter Valley
• jb Wines Barossa Valley
• John Gehrig Wines King Valley
• Lethbridge Wines Geelong
• Marcus Hill Geelong
• Meadowbank WInes Southern Tasmania
• Mount Macedon Winery Macedon Ranges
• Murdoch Hill Adelaide Hills
• Nomads Garden Alpine Valleys
• Oakridge Yarra Valley
• Pipers Brook Vineyard Northern Tasmania
• Printhe Orange
• Rahona Valley Vineyard Mornington Peninsula
• Ros Ritchie Upper Goulburn
• Seppelt Grampians
• Sinapius Northern Tasmania
• Somos McLaren Vale
• Symphonia King Valley
• Tertini Wines Southern Highlands
• Wellington and Wolfe Northern Tasmania
• Woodonga Hill Hilltops