1999 DNA Typing Article Gives Clues

It's a mystery. We have long since forgotten when and who decided that it would be a good idea to put in a vineyard. Cleaning, which always makes my husband happy, although he calls what I do "shuffling", brings discoveries.
On September 3, 1999, John Bowers, Jean-Michel Boursiquot, Patrice This, Kieu Chu, Henrik Johansson, and Carole Meredith published a research article in the journal Science, entitled "Historical Genetics: The Parentage of Chardonnay, Gamay, and Other Wine Grapes of Northeastern France". The article mentions that Carole Meredith and then graduate student, John Bowers analyzed 322 cultivars of Vitis vinifera including some very old cultivars to obtain their DNA fingerprint. Here is the type of analyses using gel electrophoresis that was done on the cultivars. The two loci shown in this figure are VVMD5 (top) and VVMD28 (bottom).¹

From this initial group of 322 cultivars, they used 32 loci to determine that 16 cultivars had genotypes consistent with being the offspring of a cross between Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc. Before publication of this groundbreaking research, it was thought that Chardonnay was a white form of Pinot Noir. Also surprising was that Gouais Blanc was the partner in the cross that produced such a noble variety as Chardonnay, since historically, Gouais Blanc was a mediocre variety and is no longer planted in France. This study shows us that the two cultivars that we will be planting this spring, Chardonnay and Auxerrois are actually siblings!
Furthermore, by finding this article during my cleaning activities, it looks as if we were already thinking about planting vines as far back as 1999!

Reference:
1. Bowers, J., Boursiquot, J.M., This, P., Chu, K., Johansson, H., & Meredith, C, 1999, Historical Genetics: The Parentage of Chardonnay, Gamay, and Other Wine Grapes of Northeastern France, Science: 285, pp 1562 - 1565.
Additional Resources:
1. Chardonnay and Gouais Blanc, WineIntro with Lisa Shea.
2. Chardonnays of Interest, PinotFile.