In 1988, Pierre Viaud, a winegrower in Landreau, planted grapevines in the Clos du Gauffriaud terroir of the village of the same name. He used Melon de Bourgogne, a grape variety used in Muscadet. In 1995, he noticed that one of the young vines had black grapes on one branch whilst the two other branches had green grapes. The same thing happened again in the years that followed.
Towards 2000, having contacted the Nantes’ Technical Institute for Wine (ITV, and now the French Institute of Vines and Wine, Château de la Frémoire, 44120 Vertou), a small research group of twelve people was established, bringing together Mr Viaud and his son with other winemaking colleagues, the Syndicate for Protection of the AOC label for Muscadet (SDAOC), the French Institute for Vines and Wine (Nantes centre) and the Montpellier INRA. The group’s aim was to confirm the existence of the mutation, to describe it and to guarantee the durability of this new grape variety.
From the original vine, they took a branch sample to carry out a multiplication and plantation programme. In parallel, Jean-Luc Viaud (son) planted several lines of this particular Melon de Bretagne. In 2005, the first harvest of the new variety produced 20 litres of wine. In the years that followed the yield regularly increased until it reached a volume of 100 litres in 2008, still a modest amount. Different winemaking methods were used on these mini yields in partnership with the ITV. Current experience and harvest quality mean the best results were achieved by making sparkling rosés.
Translation: Tilly O'Neill
