Pinot Meunier

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

Pinot Meunier (Pinot Meunier) is a red wine grape variety that originates from the regions of Burgundy and Champagne, France. Apart from France, Pinot Meunier is also grown in Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Austria and California. The variety is also known by the names Millers Burgundy, Black Riesling, Plant Monet, Gray Monet, Muellebe and others.

Pinot Meunier is a very common variety in Champagne, where it is used to make champagne. However, he remains in the shadow of his much more famous brethren - Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

He usually blends in with them, but for one reason or another the lead role never belongs to him. Pinot Noir is lighter in color than Pinot Noir, but its acid levels are higher. Pinot Mony is characterized with medium-sized bunch, dense and cylindrical-conical. Its nipples are small with a characteristic blue-black color.

Although slightly underestimated compared to its rivals, Pinot Meunier has quite a few advantages over them. First of all, it has higher acid levels of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, can grow in the northernmost parts of the region and, on top of that, boasts higher yields of Pinot Noir.

One of the possible reasons why Champagne winemakers include Pinot Meunier in a small share of blends is the fact that this variety does not have a very high maturation potential and is inferior to its competitors in terms of quality and finesse.

Pinot Meunier is a variety, which blooms late, ripens early and develops very quickly in the bottle, making it extremely suitable for blending wines that come out earlier on the market.

The variety gives density, softness, balance and pleasant fruity taste to the blended wines in which it participates. Varietal wines made only from Pinot Meunier are rare and are produced mainly in Australia.

Features of Pinot Noir

Compared to Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier produces light and colorful wines with slightly higher acid levels, but the sugar and alcohol content are almost the same in both varieties. As part of the standard champagne mixture, Pinot Meunier contributes to the aromatic fruity aromas of the wine.

Champagne with higher levels of Pinot Meunier has no potential for aging, compared to champagne produced mainly from Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. Therefore, Pinot Meunier is most often used for champagne, which is intended for consumption while still young and has a mild aroma.

In Germany Pinot Meunier is used for making stylish red wines that can range from light and almost dry, to rich, dry and with significant aromas.

In California, American champagne producers began planting Pinot Meunier in 1980. In Australia, grapes have a longer history in the production of wine of this variety than the production of Pinot Noir wine.

In New Zealand, winemakers have recently started producing champagne and wines from Pinot Meunier. As a varietal red wine, Pinot Meunier is characterized by a light fruity taste, moderate acidity and low tannins.

Serving Pinot Meunier

The light fruity taste of the wines produced by Pinot Meunier goes well with foods such as tuna, shrimp, tomato salad with onions, squid. More mature wines are served with pizzas and even sushi.

And since Pinot Meunier is mainly used to make champagne, we will now list the foods that go with a nice sparkling drink. Champagne is a drink that goes well with a variety of food groups. These are fruits, nuts, all kinds of mushroom appetizers, pasta, risotto, hard cheeses such as Parmesan, gouda and cheddar. Vegetables, fish and seafood also go well with champagne.

Birds, beef, pork and lamb, served with a glass of champagne, become a delight for the palate. Asian cuisine is very suitable for dry champagne, because its sour note goes very well with these spicy foods.

The driest types of champagne are suitable for sushi and Mexican food. Almost all types of desserts combined with fruit and fruit creams, as well as your favorite chocolate are a wonderful addition to dry champagne.