white grape · regional staple
Melon de Bourgogne
Burgundy, France
Say it
meh·londuhboor·gon·yuh
Final -e in Bourgogne is silent; -gn- is a palatal nasal, like 'ny' in 'canyon'
On the palate
How you spot it blind: briny oyster-shell salinity with a persistent saline mineral finish
The story
First written down · 1616, Pays Nantais, Loire Valley
A natural cross of Heunisch Weiss (Gouais Blanc) and Pinot — the same parents as Chardonnay, confirmed by DNA (Bowers 1999) — first documented in a 1616 Nantes lease contract; repeatedly expelled from Burgundy by ducal decree, it survived in the Loire, where the catastrophic 1709 frost eliminated competing varieties and cemented its monopoly in the Pays Nantais.
Family tree: Heunisch Weiss × Pinot
Where it lives
Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine, Loire Valley, France · Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu, Loire Valley, France · Muscadet Coteaux de la Loire, Loire Valley, France
Shows up as
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Also answers to Melon, Muscadet.
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