Gouias Blanc is the mother of Gamay...and some other grapes

[Yule Kim]

Apparently, a grape variety I never heard of, Gouais Blanc, is the mother grape of such disorderly favorites as Gamay, Melon, Romorantin, Aligote, and another obscure grape variety that apparently can be made into a decent sparkler.

Link

N.B.: Corrected from a previous version that botched the use of "varietal." Hat tip to Thor and Jeff.

 

[SFJoe]

Not to mention riesling.

Had my first Gouais recently. Fun to taste given the context, but my example wasn't thrilling.

 

[Thor]

Ack! Yule, fix your usage!

*shudder*

 

[Yule Kim]

I'm assuming I misused the term "varietal?" I'm not certain in which way, however.

 

[Jeff Grossman]

A varietal is a wine made from a single variety of grape.

 

[Steve Edmunds]

really?...

 

[Zachary Ross]

originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
A varietal is a wine made from a single variety of grape.

And because of unspecified sectarian strife, varietals are often fighting. Varieties, not so much.

 

[VS]

The gouais story has been known for quite a few years... Chardonnay, aligot, auxerrois are also part of its progeny.

Heck, this story has been commoditized to the point it now features in Wikipedia...

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en.wikipedia.org

 

[Yule Kim]

I think the "news" is that Gouais Blanc is the mother grape to chard, gamay, and aligote, thus contributing more DNA to those varieties and thus playing a more important role in defining those varieties' characteristics than pinot.

Jamie Goode Link