White grape

Gouais Blanc

gweh BLAHN
How to read this

Capitals mark the stressed syllable. “ahn” is a nasal vowel: say it through the nose, with no n. The recording is the reference.

Gouais Blanc, filed by VIVC as Heunisch Weiss, is a founder white once widespread in northeast France, of uncertain origin; DNA markers show it is a parent of Muscadelle and Colombard.

Gouais Blanc is one of the founder grapes of Europe. José Vouillamoz, co-author of Wine Grapes, places its origin in northeast France or southwest Germany, gives its first mention as 1539, in Germany, and counts more than 82 offspring; Plantgrape, the French national catalog, suggests it may come instead from the western Balkans or central Europe. VIVC files it under its German name, Heunisch Weiss, and gives it no parents. In 1999 John Bowers and colleagues showed in Science that Gouais Blanc and Pinot, “both of which were widespread in this region in the Middle Ages,” are the parents of Chardonnay, Gamay Noir, and 14 other grapes of northeast France.

Its Bordeaux children are many. DNA markers show that Gouais Blanc is a parent of Muscadelle, one of the 4 principal white grapes of AOC Bordeaux; of Colombard, with Chenin Blanc; and of Chalosse Noire, a black grape whose name runs through the old Médoc books (Boursiquot and colleagues, 2004; Lacombe and colleagues, 2013). VIVC also gives it as a parent of Aramon, with Ouliven, and Wine Grapes proposes it as a parent of Folle Blanche. The Gironde books record no vineyard of Gouais Blanc itself.

The family

Parents unknown.

Gouais Blanc

Colombard shown by DNA markers

Muscadelle shown by DNA markers

Chalosse Noire shown by DNA markers

Folle Blanche proposed

Chardonnay shown by DNA markers

Aramon shown by DNA markers

  • Boursiquot et al. 2004, Bull. OIV 77:5-19; Lacombe et al. 2013; VIVC 2771
  • Boursiquot et al. 2004, Bull. OIV 77:5-19; Lacombe et al. 2013; VIVC 8182
  • Boursiquot et al. 2004, Bull. OIV 77:5-19; Lacombe et al. 2013; VIVC 22964
  • Robinson, Harding & Vouillamoz, Wine Grapes (2012), pedigree diagram (gray 'Various' box); not on VIVC 4183
  • Bowers et al. 1999, Science 285:1562-1565; VIVC 2455
  • VIVC 544 marker pedigree

The discovery: In 1999, Bowers and colleagues (Science 285:1562-1565) showed Gouais Blanc and Pinot to be the parents of Chardonnay, Gamay Noir, and other grapes of northeast France.

The names

Other names in VIVC: Bouillaud, Bouillen, Bouillenc, Bourguignon, Foirard, Gouais, Gouais Blanc, Gouais Jaune, Gouais Long, Gouais Rond, Gouay, Gouet Blanc, Gouche Blanche, Gros Blanc.

In today’s rules

Not named in the rules of any Bordeaux appellation today.

Sources

  • Röckel et al. (2026): Vitis International Variety Catalogue, www.vivc.de, passport id 5374 (Heunisch Weiss), and passports 8182 (Muscadelle), 2771 (Colombard), 22964 (Chalosse Noire), 544 (Aramon Noir), accessed October 2026
  • José Vouillamoz, 'The Powerful Potentates of the Grape World: Noiriens and Carmenets', Wine Grapes lecture 2, Wine Scholar Guild, September 17, 2023
  • Bowers, J. et al. (1999), 'Historical genetics: the parentage of Chardonnay, Gamay, and other wine grapes of northeastern France', Science 285:1562-1565
  • Boursiquot, J.-M., Lacombe, T., Bowers, J. & Meredith, C. (2004), 'Le Gouais, un cépage clé du patrimoine viticole européen', Bulletin de l'OIV 77:5-19 (as cited by VIVC)
  • Lacombe, T. et al. (2013), 'Large-scale parentage analysis in an extended set of grapevine cultivars (Vitis vinifera L.)', Theoretical and Applied Genetics 126 (2):401-414
  • Bowers, J. E., Siret, R., Meredith, C. P., This, P. & Boursiquot, J.-M. (2000), 'A single pair of parents proposed for a group of grapevine varieties in northeastern France', Acta Horticulturae 528:129-132
  • Robinson, Harding & Vouillamoz, Wine Grapes (2012), pedigree gatefold, gray 'Gouais Blanc x Various' box
  • INAO, cahier des charges AOC Bordeaux (opposition draft after the CNAOV opinion of November 18, 2020; homologated March 22, 2021), ch. I, V.1 a, https://winewitandwisdomswe.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Cahier-des-Charges-AOC-Bordeaux-updated-November-2020.pdf, accessed October 2026
  • Pl@ntGrape, le catalogue des vignes cultivées en France (INRAE, IFV, Institut Agro), Gouais blanc, https://plantgrape.plantnet-project.org, accessed October 2026
  • Röckel et al. (2026): Vitis International Variety Catalogue, www.vivc.de, accessed October 2026

Every grape

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