white grape · rare
Petit Meslier
Champagne, France
Say it
peh·teemeh·lyay
Both syllables of each word are French; final 'r' in Meslier is silent; stress falls on the second syllable of each word.
On the palate
green applegrapefruitlimepearchamomiledried herbs
How you spot it blind: piercing acidity retained even in hot vintages; pH sometimes below 3.0
The story
DNA microsatellite analysis (2013) confirmed Petit Meslier as a cross of Gouais Blanc (Heunisch Weiss) × Savagnin; once widely planted in pre-phylloxera Champagne, it collapsed to ~2.8 ha by 2000 before a modest artisan-led revival.
Family tree: Heunisch Weiss × Savagnin
Where it lives
Champagne, France
Shows up as
sparklingChampagne