 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.As with most French wine grapes, the phylloxera epidemic of the late 19th century drastically cut into the Pineau d'Aunis plantings in France.The construction of the Paris–Bordeaux railway as well as the 1980s high-speed expansion of the LGV Atlantique and the planned construction of the LGV Sud Europe Atlantique threaten to gobble up more plantings of Pineau d'Aunis but sparked some "vignerons" to launch conservation efforts to save the variety from extinction.