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Jancis Robinson’s Tome “Wine Grapes” includes profiles of 1,368 wine grapes grown worldwide. Commercial success aside, I’d love to see more of the other 1,362.

My French Grapes Outside of France Rant
Our French Winophiles are exploring French Grapes outside of France this month. I was fully prepared to just skip this month as I’m firmly in the camp of “Does the world really need ANOTHER source of Cabernet Sauvignon?” The “big six” French grapes – Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc are grown all around the world from China to Moldova, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, California. Antarctica is the only continent where these monster French grapes aren’t grown. To the best of my knowledge. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for a bunch of less crabby posts from my fellow Winophiles!

End of Rant
I love French grapes (even the big six), and I’m truly happy to see occasions where lesser known varieties are experimented with and embraced. Anyone for Trousseau Gris and Pinot Meunier?

Only a day before lockdown in March 2020, I visited William at his farm and met Baby Luna who was one day old at the time!

Tasting with William – we happened to taste the skin fermented Trousseau Gris!

William Allen of Two Shepherds Vineyards
Since my first visit back in 2012, I’ve been a fan and a wine club member of Two Shepherds Vineyards.  William has always had a passion especially for Rhône varieties, but also lesser known grapes sourced from small family vineyards all around California. All his wines are small lots with grapes harvested while they still have good acidity, low intervention in the winery and no chemical adjustments or inputs save a small amount of sulfur dioxide at bottling.  These wines could be referred to as natural wines, in fact, Two Shepherds participates in Isabelle Legeron’s Raw Wine fairs. William prefers to market his wines as pristine and extremely well made; he has no tolerance for the faults that some low intervention winemakers explain away. This requires scrupulous cleanliness in the winery and intense attention to detail.  And if/when a barrel takes a turn for the worse, he dumps it, as it doesn’t meet his standards.

I didn’t need to look through my supply very long to find a couple of good examples of French grapes outside of France, but well outside the super-popular varieties.

Skin fermented Trousseau Gris is pretty rare, but well worth searching out!

Trousseau Gris
The Trousseau grape hails originally from the Jura Region in eastern France. Still popular in the Jura, the grape has many aliases, but none of them are prominent grapes where they are found. Trousseau Gris, a color mutation of Trousseau was once popular all around California, but now has largely disappeared except for one place. An entire block of Trousseau Gris was planted back in 1981 in the Fannucchi vineyard, the source of our wine today. Taking it one step further, William Allen fermented the Two Shepherds Trousseau Gris on the grape skins, the technique typically used for red wines. Skin-fermented white wines are typically referred to as ‘orange’ wines for obvious reasons.

Two Shepherds Trousseau Gris Skin Fermented, Fanucchi Vineyard, Russian River Valley 2019 ($30 winery direct) 12.3% abv
Eye: Deep orange
Nose: Medium plus intensity aromas of honeysuckle, orange rind, red plum, dried apricot, leather, forest floor.
Mouth: Dry, medium acidity, low silky tannins, medium body with round texture, medium alcohol, medium plus flavor intensity, long finish. Flavors of honeysuckle, orange rind, red plum, dried apricot, leather, forest floor.
Conclusions: The color and aromas are different, but this wine drinks very much like a red wine, which makes perfect sense as the winemaking process is so similar.

A rare sight outside of Champagne, and even more rare as a single varietal still red wine.

Pinot Meunier
Pinot Meunier is a mutation of the Pinot Noir grape, as are Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. It’s most common as one of the three main grapes used in Champagne, and in that region it’s typically called just Meunier.  The underside of the vine leaves have a powdery white look, almost as if they have been dusted with flour. In French, a Meunier is a miller or flour maker. While popular in Champagne, it is only grown in very small amounts in scattered cool sites around the world. In California, there were 163 acres planted as of 2010.

Two Shepherds Pinot Meunier Hopkins Vineyard Russian River Valley 2015 ($44 winery direct) 12.3% abv
Eye: Pale ruby color
Nose: medium intensity aromas of roses, ripe cherries, strawberries, cinnamon, subtle forest floor.
Mouth: Dry, medium acidity, medium body with a soft texture, medium alcohol, medium plus intensity flavors and a medium plus finish. Flavors of ripe cherries, strawberries, cinnamon, a touch of rosemary, forest floor.
Conclusions: I’ve had Meunier as a component in many Champagnes and even had a few which featured the grape. This was a fun way to try the grape solo and as a still red wine. The overall impression is similar to a fruity Pinot Noir, but with a softer texture and a bit less acidity.

Trousseau Gris and Pinot Meunier at the Dinner Table

Fellow Winophiles Discoveries of French Grapes Outside of France
Take a look at all the non-crabby posts below, then join our chat on Saturday, March 20 from 10-11:00am CDT. I will have cheered up for sure by then! We chat at #Winophiles on Twitter.

• Allison & Chris at AdVINEtures share French Grapes Around the World: Chardonnay in BC’s Okanagan Valley .
• Andrea of The Quirky Cork declares Ooo la la! French Grapes in Turkey!
• Gwendolyn of Wine Predator pours West Coast “Bordeaux” Blends with Beef Bourguignon.
• Jeff of FoodWineClick! takes A Reluctant Look at French Grapes Outside of France .
• Jill of L’Occasion features Rhône Grapes in Paso Robles .
• Lauren of The Swirling Dervish goes Beyond Champagne: Pinot Meunier Shines in a Varietal Wine from Two Shepherds .
• Melanie of Wining with Mel offers French Grapes Around the World: Spotlight on Niagara Gamay .
• Nicole of Somm’s Table is Celebrating Women’s History Month with Gamble Family Vineyard’s Mary Ann .
• Pinny at Chinese Food and Wine Pairings examines Elevating French grapes outside France at Texas’s William and Chris Vineyards .
• Robin of Crushed Grape Chronicles looks at Roussanne 9009 km from Home .
• Susannah of Avvinare posts Petit Manseng Flourishes In Virginia .
• Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm is Exploring Malbec Outside of France Paired with Pineapple Teriyaki Salmon .
• And host Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla surveys Gamay Around the Globe: From Burgundy to the Willamette Valley + Mussels, Pici, and A Bottle from New Zealand .