Pineau d'Aunis

[4] Today the grape is permitted in several Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) wine regions of the Loire Valley, including Cheverny and Coteaux du Vendômois.

[2] However, wine writer Oz Clarke believes that the grape was named after a priory known as Aunis that existed outside of the commune of Saumur during the Middle Ages.

Henry, the son of John Plantagenet and Isabella of Angoulême (a commune is what is now the Charente department), began importing casks of Pineau d'Aunis wine to England in 1246.

[6] During the Hundred Years' War, King Charles VII of France gave Philip the Good, the Duke of Burgundy, vines of Pineau d'Aunis as a peace offering in 1425.

However, DNA testing in the early 21st century confirmed that Pineau d'Aunis is not related at all with Chenin blanc nor Pinot noir, with which it is frequently confused.

[2] As with most French wine grapes, the phylloxera epidemic of the late 19th century drastically cut into the Pineau d'Aunis plantings in France.

[2] Wine writer Richard Kelley notes that Pineau d'Aunis is a "very terroir-sensitive" variety that will greatly reflect the vineyard soils and growing conditions that it experience.

In soils with high limestone content, it can ripen very quickly which can limit the amount of phenolics and aromatic compounds that have time to develop.

[6] Like Gamay, Pineau d'Aunis will develop thick, reddish-color stalks in the autumn with the leaves changing color to a bright red with purple/bluish veins.

[10] In the town of Vendôme in the Loir-et-Cher department, Pineau d'Aunis is made into a varietal wine of all colors (red, rosé and white) in Coteaux du Vendômois.

In the red wine-only sub region of Saumur-Champigny, Pineau d'Aunis is only blended with the Cabernet varieties but with the same maximum yield and minimum alcohol restrictions.

[10] Along the river Cher, Pineau d'Aunis is grown in the Valençay AOC where it is blended with the Cabernet varieties, Malbec and Gamay in the red and rosé wines.

[2] Richard Kelley notes that the quality of varietal Pineau d'Aunis will depend heavily on the type of yields that the grape was harvested at, as well as the age of the vines.

The low phenolics and anthocyanin content can make color extraction difficult, though this can be enhanced with both blending as well as "bleeding off" (saignée) some of the juice to more concentrate the must.