Cool-Climate Pinot Noirs in California

A.

Chardonnay is one of the “offsprings” of Pinot Noir. In particular, Chardonnay is the result of a natural cross of Pinot Noir and an obscure French white grape called Gouais Blanc. With the advent of DNA typing of grapevines (in the 1990s), it became clear that many grape varieties had one “parent” that was a red variety, and another “parent” that was a white variety.