Viticultural Information
Pinot blanc
Description
Species: Vitis vinifera Pinot blanc is a mutation of Pinot noir that resulted in white grapes. It made its first appearance in Europe later than Pinot noir and Pinot gris, and it is speculated that Pinot blanc was in the Alsace in the sixteenth century. In the 1980s, most Pinot blanc vineyards in California were discovered to actually be the variety Melon. In other countries, Chardonnay and Chenin blanc were mis-identified as Pinot blanc. Pinot blanc is much easier to grow than Pinot noir. It has a small canopy yet is relatively fruitful, thus cane pruning may not be necessary. On a six-foot vine spacing, it will produce no more than about 12 pounds of fruit per vine. A wider vine spacing would not be used. The clusters are extremely tight—as much if not more so than all of the other members of the Pinot family. In coastal areas, Pinot blanc for still wine will ripen during the first three weeks of September.
People
Links
Foundation Plant Services at UC Davis is the source of Foundation grapevine material for the nursery industry, and the staff can provide information about possible sources for obtaining this stock. The National Grape Registry (NGR) contains information about varieties of wine, juice, and table grapes, raisins, and grape rootstocks available in the United States. Growers, nurseries, winemakers and researchers can find background information and source contacts for those grape varieties in this single convenient location.
Publications
Smith, R. 2003. Pinot blanc (PDF). Pages 112-113 in: Wine Grape Varieties in California. University of California Agricultural and Natural Resources Publication 3419, Oakland, CA. Buy book
NGR Match
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