We drank a wine made from Sauvignon Gris last night. It tasted very much like Sauvignon Blanc. Nice enough.
Further research showed that Sauvignon Gris is a synonym for Fié Gris which has already appeared in these pages.
Friday 27 October 2023
Tuesday 10 October 2023
Our GF 93-22.6 also has a name now!
Encouraged by the discovery of a name for our Gm 1807-3 after so many years, and what a name: 'Fidelio' (see previous post), we checked on our other variety GF 93-22.6 yet to be so dignified.
It seems that the wine establishments in Germany have been hard at work because mirabile dictu, there is now a name for GF 93-22.6 too:
Calardis Blanc.
OK, something catchier such as La Traviata, La Sonnambula or Luisa Miller might have stuck in mind a little easier but Calardis Blanc is a name at least.
The following comes from a grape nursery called Sibbus:
Calardis blanc - resistant variety
Calardis blanc bunch
Origin:
This is a white fungus-resistant cross of the german Julius Kühn Institute at the Geilweilerhof in Siebeldingen in the Palatinate from 1993.
Cross: Calardis Musqué x Seyve Villard 39-639.
The name is derived from "Calardiswilre", as the Geilweilerhof was historically called.
Synonyms:
Gf.1993-22-6 (breeders name)
Requirements to the site:
Calardis blanc is a fungus-resistant white wine variety with high yield potential. Therefore, the site should not be chosen too weak. It does not tend to high alcohol content.
Spread:
Calardis blanc was only approved in Germany in 2020, and is therefore still very young and not widely spread.
Special characteristics:
The resistance to Peronospora (downy mildew) is very high, but also the resistance to Oidium (powdery mildew) is high. Due to the very loose grape structure, there are almost no Botrytis infestation. Calardis blanc also has good resistance to black rot.
The straight growth and the relatively low stinginess also make it very interesting from a viticultural point of view. This also includes the low sensitivity to sunburn.
It has been registered in the German variety list since 2020. This means that it may be planted in Germany.
Wines:
The mostly slightly fruity wines lie somewhere between Burgundy and Riesling.
Meanwhile, a reminder from our post of March 22nd 2015 of how we came to buy GF 93-22.6/Calardis Blanc in the first place:
So bidding Geilweilerhof Auf Wiedersehen, we trundled off to Umstein which is positively heaving with Rebschule, one actually called Krapp.
But here was Wolfs Brunnen, Winzer. Weinprobe, Verkauf (Wolf's Spring, Producer, Wine-tasting, Sales)
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| Frau Wolf, left and colleague preparing vines for planting |
Entering with some trepidation we were asked by Frau Wolf what our visit was about and when we mentioned vines she asked which ones we wanted. We asked her which ones she had. That is a question which has caused consternation before at other Rebschule. Stocktaking at the end of a no doubt busy season must be well nigh impossible. We were actually after Souvignier Gris. Frau Wolf conducted us into the presence of her husband in an inner sanctum. Herr Wolf turned out to be a very jovial character delighted to help.
He decided that what we wanted was GF.93-22-6, a crossing of GF.GA-47-42 (Bacchus x Seyval) x Seyve Villard 39-639.
It became clear we were not going to leave without 25 Stueck of this variety. Even the obligatory agreement with Geilweilerhof could be sent for our signature. Meanwhile a bundle of vines in a brown plastic bag was loaded onto us.
We didn't object as we had taken a shine to the Wolfs and reckoned they knew what they were talking about. We also have a faiblesse for varieties so obscure they don't have a name yet. We might put GF.93-22-6 next to our GM8107-3.
Herr Wolf then conducted us to the tasting room where he urged a sample of something called Aromera on us. It came from a colleague; a Rebschule in Austria.
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| the Wolf's gemuetlich tasting room |
He also urged us to return in July when up to 1,000 people descend on his property to taste up to 36 wines he makes in micro-vinification so buyers of his vines may know what to expect.
Later we learned that Freiburg had located 25 1 metre long vines of Souvignier Gris for us. How kind everyone is in the world of Rebschule and wine research institutes.
We spotted it in 2011: Gm 8107 - 3 no longer: now FIDELIO!!!
Back in 2011 we went to the famous grape research institute and university at Geisenheim and came away having spotted a promising variety with no name referred only as Gm 8107-3.
Here is Slotovino on that discovery made during a tasting of many of the new varieties obtained at Geisenheim. The tasting was by courtesy of Dipl. Ing. Bettina Lindner.
Gm 8107-3
a deliciously apply (Bettina preferred citrussy) wine from grapes descended from Ehrenbreitsteiner and FR 52-64 (meaning a grape cultivated by the Freiburg Institute in 1952). Ehrenbreitsteiner is itself a crossing of two generations of other crossings. As in any other kind of breeding the hope is that progress may be made over time. Bettina Lindner told us she had sold the GM 8107-3 to a French gentleman looking for varieties to plant in Brasil or some such humid part of the world and this person had decided the variety should have a proper name and chose 'Bettina'. We were pleased to follow his lead, so 'Bettina' it is.
We bought 25 bare rooted vines and planted them that year so the vines are now 12 years old. They have always been quite vigorous but the grapes have never ripened fully until this year. Suddenly we have huge bunches of beautiful large grapes undisturbed by birds or wasps. No sign of the rather strident taste when these grapes have not ripened properly.
All these years we have had confidence in Gm 8107-3. Derek Pritchard of Dunkery Vineyard in Devon sells it through his estimable www.winegrowers.info site. Every so often we have googled old 8107 to see if it has finally been given a name.
Just today we discover that it has indeed been given that honour and what is more, the name is 'Fidelio' also the name of Beethoven's operatic masterpiece. How appropriate! So nostalgically no more Bettina, welcome Fidelio.
We aim to make a wine this year with the grape 'Fidelio' the old boy would have drunk with pleasure.
