Auxerrois Blanc or Auxerrois Blanc de Laquenexy is a white wine grape that is important in Alsace

Alsace

Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...

, and is also grown in Germany

German wine

German wine is primarily produced in the west of Germany, along the river Rhine and its tributaries, with the oldest plantations going back to the Roman era. Approximately 60 percent of the German wine production is situated in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, where 6 of the 13 regions ...

 and Luxembourg

Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

. It is a full sibling of Chardonnay

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...

 that is often blended with the similar Pinot Blanc

Pinot Blanc

Pinot blanc is a white wine grape. It is a point 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 cane which produced white fruit....

.

History

Auxerrois Blanc is thought to have originated in Lorraine, rather than near Auxerre

Auxerre

Auxerre is a commune in the Bourgogne region in north-central France, between Paris and Dijon. It is the capital of the Yonne department.Auxerre's population today is about 45,000...

 in the Yonne. Recent DNA fingerprinting suggests that it is a cross between Gouais blanc

Gouais Blanc

Gouais Blanc or Weißer Heunisch is a white grape variety that is seldom grown today but is important as the ancestor of many traditional French and German grape varieties. The name Gouais derives from the old French adjective ‘gou’, a term of derision befitting its traditional status as the grape...

 and Pinot noir

Pinot Noir

Pinot noir is a black wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes...

, the same ancestry as Chardonnay

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...

. The name Auxerrois Blanc has actually been used as a synonym for Chardonnay in the Moselle

Moselle wine

Moselle wine is produced in three countries along the Moselle river: France, Luxembourg and Germany. Moselle wines are mainly white and are made in some of the coldest climates used for commercial winemaking.-France:...

 region in France, which explains why there is also a longer name (Auxerrois Blanc de Laquenexy) for the grape variety.

Distribution and Wines

Seldom seen in the New World, a little is grown in North America and South Africa.

France

France's 1950 hectares (4,818.6 acre) of Auxerrois Blanc are mostly in Alsace, with some in the Côtes de Toul

Côtes de Toul

Côtes de Toul is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée for French wine produced in the département of Meurthe-et-Moselle in the Lorraine région. The Côtes de Toul vineyards cover in an area close to Toul, to the west of the city of Nancy...

 of Lorraine. It is mostly blended into wines called "Pinot Blanc" (which may actually consist of Auxerrois Blanc, the variety Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir vinified white). It is an important component of Crémant d'Alsace

Crémant d'Alsace

Crémant d'Alsace is an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée for sparkling wines made in the Alsace wine region of France. Produced since 1900, the Crémant d'Alsace AOC was recognized in 1976 by the INAO and the designation Crémant regulated by the European Parliament in 1996.- History :The Alsacian...

.

Germany and Luxembourg

Some is grown in Germany and Luxembourg, where it is known simply as Auxerrois.

Vine and Viticulture

It favours limestone soils, and ripens a little earlier than Pinot blanc. It has small compact bunches.

Synonyms

Arboisier, Arnaison Blanc, Arnoison, Aubaine, Auvergnat Blanc, Auvernas Blanc, Auvernat Blanc, Auxois Blanc, Bargeois Blanc, Beaunois, Blanc De Champagne, Breisgauer Sussling, Burgundi Feher, Chablis, Chardennet, Chardonnay Blanc, Chatey Petit, Chaudenet, Claevner, Clevner Weiss, Epinette Blanche, Epinette De Champagne, Ericey Blanc, Feher Chardonnay, Feherburgundi, Feinburgunder, Gamay Blanc, Gelber Weissburgunder, Gentil Blanc, Grosse Bourgogne, Klawner, Klevanjka Biela, Lisant, Luisant, Luizannais, Luizant, Luzannois, Maconnais, Maurillon Blanc, Melon Blanc, Melon D'Arbois, Moreau Blanc, Morillon Blanc, Moulon, Noirien Blanc, Petit Chatey, Petit Sainte-marie, Pino Shardone, Pinot Blanc A Cramant, Pinot Blanc Chardonnay, Pinot Chardonnay, Plant De Tonnerre, Romere, Romeret, Rouci Bile, Rousseau, Roussot, Rulander Weiss, Sainte Marie Petite, Sardone, Shardone, Weiss Silber, Weissedler, Auxerrois blanc de Laquenexy and Auxerrois de Laquenexy.

Further reading

• Robinson, Jancis Vines, Grapes & Wines Mitchell Beazley 1986 ISBN 1857329996