Auxerrois in the News

We've planted two white varieties with very little name recognition among the wine drinking public, but we are hoping that our Chenin blanc, our grape equivalent of Rodney Dangerfield and our Auxerrois can change a few people's minds. Lately, however, Chenin blanc has been gaining some notoriety and we already know that Charles and Kareem Massoud at Paumanok, on Long Island make a delicious Chenin blanc that regularly sells out! But, Auxerrois?
So, it was with keen interest that I read the article in Decanter written by Andrew Jefford called Jefford on Monday: The Grape That Dare Not Speak Its Name. Jefford wrote that Auxerrois spends its life under a gagging order. In Alsace, where Auxerrois is grown, it is often blended with Pinot blanc, some wines may contain as much as 80% Auxerrois but it will be labeled as Pinot blanc.
The two varieties, Pinot blanc and Auxerrois actually come from different parentages. A DNA analysis done in 1999, by Carole Meredith and her team revealed that Auxerrois and Chardonnay have the same parentage. This year, I took photos of the new leaves of Auxerrois and Chardonnay as they were emerging and noted that the Auxerrois had bronze colored new leaves. As the plants grew, however, it was difficult to tell the difference, just by looking at the leaves.:

Getting back to the parentage issue, Auxerrois comes from Pinot noir and Guais blanc and Pinot blanc is a mutation of Pinot noir, therefore their flavor profiles are quite different. In this article, Jefford was making a case for Auxerrois having it's own identity as a wine.
There are Auxerrois wines out there and one of our favorites is Clos des Rochers, made in Luxembourg. It is a good wine to drink after a hard day's work in the vineyard and under $20.00! Could Auxerrois be the next new thing?