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Pierre Galet (28 January 1921 – 30 December 2019) was a French ampelography and author who was an influential figure within ampelography in the 20th century and before DNA typing was widely introduced. Beginning in the 1950s, Pierre Galet introduced a system for identifying varieties based on the shape, contours and characteristics of the leaves of the vines, petioles, growing shoots, shoot tips, grape clusters, as well as the colour, size, seed content and flavour of the grapes. Wine News Magazine: Ampelography - Vine Identification – A Botanist's View by Jeff Cox & Gina Gigl The impact and comprehensiveness of his work earned him the consideration as the "father of modern ampelography".J. Robinson (ed) "The Oxford Companion to Wine" Third Edition pg 295 Oxford University Press 2006 He started publishing within ampelography in the 1950s and his Ph.D. thesis was presented in 1967. He has also written popular science books on grape varieties. Galet was active at the École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Montpellier (today L'Institut Agro Montpellier).
After the war, Galet would accept a teaching position at the École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Montpellier where from 1946-1989, he was at the forefront of advances in ampelography and was the mentor to several of the leading ampelographers of the late 20th century. Among his students was Paul Truel, who would categorize and identify several wine grapes varieties in Australia and Portugal. In addition to teaching, Galet traveled to wine regions in the United States, South America, Cyprus, North Africa, Asia and throughout Europe identifying grape varieties and settling legal disputes involving them.
One such legal dispute involved the European Union regulations banning the use of American Vitis Labrusca vines, such as Isabella and Noah, in European vineyards. Galet has long been an advocate against forcing the mandatory uprooting of these vines, believing the ban is anachronistic.T. Fuller " Winemakers protect outlawed vines: The grapes of wrath" International Herald Tribune, September 25th, 2004
For his work in the advancement of viticulture and ampelography, Galet was made an Officier de l'Ordre du Mérite Agricole. In 1983, he was given a prize of special recognition by the L'Office national interprofessionnel des vins (OIV), the association of French vintners, for the collective body of his work.
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