imported>BigBullfrog at 21:58, 27 June 2025

2025-06-27T21:58:32Z

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{{Short description|Variety of grape}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox grape variety
| name = Pinot blanc
| color = Blanc
| image = Pinot-blanc.jpg
| caption = Pinot blanc grapes
| species = ''[[Vitis vinifera]]''
| also_called = Weissburgunder or Klevner (Austria), Fehér Burgundi (Hungary), Pinot bianco (Spain and Italy), Rulandské bílé (Czech), Rulandské biele (Slovak), Bijeli pinot (Croatia), Бели пино, бели бургундац, пино блан (Serbia).
| origin =
| hazards = 
| regions = (see [[Pinot blanc#Origins and regional production|major regions]])
| wines =
}}

'''Pinot blanc''' ({{IPA|fr|pino blɑ̃|-|LL-Q150 (fra)-Sartus85-pinot blanc.wav}}) or '''Pinot bianco''' is a white [[wine]] [[grape]]. It is a point [[Propagation of grapevines#Terminology|genetic mutation]] of [[Pinot noir]]. Pinot noir is genetically unstable and will occasionally experience a [[point mutation]] in which a vine bears all black fruit except for one [[Canopy (grape)#Cane|cane]] which produces white fruit.

==Origins and regional production==
[[File:Oregon Pinot blanc.jpg|left|thumb|An Oregon Pinot blanc]]
In Alsace, Germany, Luxembourg, Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia, the wine produced from this grape is a full-bodied white. In [[Germany (wine)|Germany]], where it is known as Weißer Burgunder or Weißburgunder, there were {{convert|5540|ha|acre}} of Pinot blanc in 2018.<ref>[https://www.deutscheweinkoenigin.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Burgunderland_Deutschland_2020.pdf Burgunderland Deutschland], Deutsches Weininstitut, retrieved 14 June 2020.</ref> The most powerful versions are usually made in [[Baden (wine region)|Baden]] and [[Palatinate (wine region)|Palatinate]]. In 2018, there were {{convert|1232|ha|acre}} of Pinot blanc in [[France]], with most of the plantations found in [[Alsace]], where it is used for both still white wines and is the most common variety used for sparkling wine, [[Crémant d'Alsace]]. Somewhat confusingly, the designation "Pinot blanc" for [[Alsace AOC]] wine does not necessarily mean that the wine is varietally pure Pinot blanc. (This is in difference to Pinot gris, which is a "true" varietal designation in Alsace.) Rather, the designation means that it is a white wine made from Pinot varieties. Under Alsace appellation rules, the varieties Pinot blanc, [[Auxerrois blanc]], [[Pinot gris]] and [[Pinot noir]] (vinified white, without skin contact) may all be used,<ref>[http://www.inao.gouv.fr/public/produits/showTexte.php?comiteNat=1&id_txt=863 INAO: AOC Alsace appellation regulations], updated until February 16, 2006.</ref> but a blend of Pinot blanc and Auxerrois blanc is the most common. The most full-bodied "Pinot blanc" wines from Alsace, with a spicy and smokey character and moderate acidity, are probably dominated by Auxerrois grapes. {{citation needed|reason=possible original research?|date=February 2025}}

Historically, Pinot blanc was used both in [[Burgundy wine|Burgundy]] and [[Champagne (wine)|Champagne]].<ref name="OCW PB">{{cite encyclopedia |editor=[[Jancis Robinson]] |encyclopedia=[[Oxford Companion to Wine]] |edition=Third |title=Pinot Blanc |year=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-860990-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00janc/page/528 528–529] |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00janc/page/528}}</ref> It is still allowed in Bourgogne blanc blend and small amounts of Pinot blanc may in principle be blended into some Burgundy wines, but very small amounts are cultivated in either region. In the Champagne region, Pinot blanc is often called Blanc Vrai.

[[File:Cremant d'Alsace.jpg|right|thumb|A Crémant d'Alsace made from Pinot blanc]]
In the [[United States]] it is mainly produced in [[California]]. In the United States, many of the vines called Pinot blanc are actually a different variety, [[Melon de Bourgogne]]/[[Muscadet]], that resembles [[Chardonnay]] when on the vine. This mistake was discovered around the mid-1980s by a French [[oenologist]] who was examining rootstock while visiting [[University of California, Davis]], and now Pinot blanc purchased from a [[nursery (horticulture)|nursery]] will be the genuine article. The grape is also grown in [[Austria]] and [[Hungary]] as well as in [[Bourgogne|Burgundy]], France.<ref name="fear">L. Brenner, Fear of Wine, p. 69 (1995). {{ISBN|0-553-37464-8}}.</ref> In Canada, Pinot blanc is often used to make [[ice wine]]. Canada's [[Okanagan Valley]] has developed a reputation for Pinot blanc as its signature wine.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wine-searcher.com/grape-380-pinot-blanc |title=Pinot Blanc Wine |author= |date=19 January 2022 |website=www.wine-searcher.com |publisher=Wine-Searcher |access-date=10 February 2022 |quote=The less colorful mutation of Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc is nonetheless well-traveled, producing delicate white wines in Italy and Alsace to luxurious Trockenbeerenauslese in Austria and icewine in Canada.}}</ref>

Pinot blanc has also been confused with [[Chardonnay]], and [[wineries]] often [[winemaking|vinify]] it in a similar style, using [[Barrel (storage)|barrel]] [[fermentation (wine)|fermentation]], new [[oak (wine)|oak]] and [[malolactic fermentation]]. It can also be treated more lightly and made into a crisper wine that still has some ability to age.

==Relationship to other grapes==
During a series of trials between 1930 and 1935, Pinot blanc was [[crossed (wine)|crossed]] with [[Riesling]] to create the white Italian wine grape variety [[Manzoni bianco]].<ref>J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'', pp. 469–471, 594-595. Allen Lane 2012. {{ISBN|978-1-846-14446-2}}.</ref>

==Wine characteristics==
In [[Alsace wine|Alsace]], [[Italy wine|Italy]] and [[Hungary wine|Hungary]], the wine produced from this grape is a full-bodied dry white wine while in [[Germany wine|Germany]] and [[Austria wine|Austria]] they can be either dry or sweet.<ref name="fear"/> One of the components of the wine [[Vin Santo]] can be Pinot blanc.<ref name="fear"/>
[[File:Predikatno vino Pinot bijeli (Croatia).JPG|thumb|230px|left| A bottle of Pinot blanc (selected late harvest) from [[Međimurje County]], northern Croatia]]

In France the grape is often blended with [[Pinot family|Klevner]], sometimes referred to by locals as "true Pinot", and [[Auxerrois Blanc|Auxerrois]] grapes, in order to give it a more Alsatian flavor.<ref name=terroir>{{cite web |url=http://www.terroir-france.com/region/alsace_pinotblanc.htm |title=Alsace Pinot Blanc |author= |date=2014 |website=terroir-france.com |publisher=Terroir-France, French Wine Guide |access-date=10 February 2022 |quote=Pinot Blanc (blanc stands for white while pinot is a wide variety of grape) also known as Klevner is a dry white wine from Alsace. Pinot Blanc is less aromatic than other white wines in Alsace. However Pinot Blanc balances between softness and freshness to make the lightest wine in Alsace along with Sylvaner. Pinot Blanc has a pale colour, delicately fruity with peach and pear aromas.}}</ref>

Bottles labeled Pinot blanc offer fruity aromas, often of apple, citrus fruit, and floral characteristics. Bottles that are varietally pure, although more difficult to find, provide stronger floral characteristics, stone fruits and a headier minerality. Regardless of their exact composition, most wines under the label 'Pinot blanc' are rather high in acidity and are vinified in tank, though more prestigious examples are fermented in large, 100% used oak barrels. Pinot blanc wines are usually made for immediate consumption.

==Names in other regions==
Pinot blanc's name varies by region. In [[Austria]] it may be bottled as Weissburgunder or Klevner. Weissburgunder is also used in the Südtirol/Alto Adige region of north east Italy (also occasionally named so in Alsace) and in Germany. [[Hungary]] calls it Fehér Burgundi. [[Spain]] and [[Italy]] refer to it as Pinot bianco. In the Czech Republic it is known as Rulandské Bílé, in Slovakia Rulandské Biele and in [[Croatia]] ''Pinot bijeli'' or ''Burgundac bijeli''. In [[Serbia]] it is called ''Бели пино'', ''Бели бургундац'', ''Пино блан''.

==See also==
* [[International variety]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Wines}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinot Blanc}}
[[Category:White wine grape varieties]]

Pinot blanc - Revision history

imported>BigBullfrog at 21:58, 27 June 2025