THE MEUNIER MAKEOVER

Stripped of their grapes, vines can be hard to tell apart. But there is one variety whose silvery-grey leaves are instantly recognisable, and that is Pinot Meunier.

Named after the French word for ‘miller’, on account of the floury-looking down that adorns each leaf, this distinctive vine was once the most widely planted in the Champagne appellation. Later budding (and therefore more frost resistant) than Pinot Noir, and also higher yielding, it was prized for being a dependable workhorse, well suited to the cooler climes of northern France, and particularly the frost-prone vineyards of Champagne’s Marne Valley.

But as competition between Champagne and Burgundy grew, Pinot Meunier started to lose ground to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Plantings declined and so did its reputation – a demotion from which the black grape has seemingly never fully recovered.

Today, according to the