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The white grape variety originates from France. Around 100 synonyms attest to its great age and worldwide distribution. The most important ones, grouped alphabetically by country, are Feigentraube, Muskat-Silvaner, Würzsilvaner (Germany); Blanc Doux, Blanc Fumé, Blanc Fumet, Fumé, Genetin, Gennetin, Gentin a Romorantin, Gros Sauvignon, Libournais, Painechon, Puinechou, Punéchon, Punechou, Quinechon, Sauternes, Sauvignon à Gros Grains, Sauvignon Blanc Musqué, Sauvignon Fumé, Sauvignon Jaune, Sauvignon Jeune, Sauvignon Musqué, Savagnou, Savignôn, Surin (France); Pellegrina, Pissotta, Sauvignon Bianco (Italy); Fumé Blanc (California); Sauvignon Bijeli, Sovinjon (Croatia); Genetin (Luxembourg); Sotern Marunt, Verdo Belîi (Moldova); Feigentraube, Muskat-Silvaner, Weißer Sauvignon (Austria); Muškatni Silvanec, Zeleni Sauvignon (Slovenia); Sauvignon Blanco (Spain); Fehér Sauvignon, Zöld Ortlibi (Hungary). It must not be confused with the Ahumat, Savagnin Blanc (Traminer), Sauvignonasse (Friulano, Tai), Silvaner or Spergola (formerly synonymous with Sauvignon Blanc in Italy) varieties, despite seemingly suggestive synonyms or morphological similarities.

Sauvignon Blanc - Weintraube und Blatt

Parentage and descendants

According to DNA analyses last carried out in 2013, there is a parent-offspring relationship with Savagnin Blanc = Traminer. A previously suspected parentage Savagnin Blanc x Chenin Blanc was disproved. This also explains why Savagnin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc were often confused and have the same synonyms. However, Savagnin Blanc is probably not a descendant but a parent, as this variety was mentioned much earlier than the probable descendant Sauvignon Blanc. The second parent is unknown. Relationships exist through Savagnin Blanc with the varieties Aubin Blanc, Béquignol Noir, Grüner Veltliner, Petit Manseng, Petit Meslier, Räuschling, Rotgipfler, Silvaner, Teinturier du Cher and Verdelho.

With the same parents as Sauvignon Blanc, the Chenin Blanc and Trousseau Noir varieties also originated. According to DNA analyses carried out in 1997, a presumably natural cross between Cabernet Franc x Sauvignon Blanc resulted in the variety Cabernet Sauvignon. According to DNA analyses carried out in 2009, the Sémillon variety is closely related. According to graduate biologist Andreas Jung, Sauvignon Blanc is identical to the Grünling variety, which was cultivated in Franconia until the middle of the 17th century. Colour mutations are Sauvignon Gris and Sauvignon Rouge, a flavour mutation called Sauvignon Musqué exists in California. Sauvignon Blanc was crossing partner of the new varieties Agorra, Arriloba, Golia (2), Incrocio Bruni 54, Misket Sungurlarski, Sauvignon Cita, Sauvignon Gryn, Sauvignon Kretos, Sauvignon Nepis, Sauvignon Rytos, Sauvignon Sary, Sauvin, Sirmium and Úrréti. An open-pollinated seedling is Avrora Magaracha.

According to an unverifiable legend, immediately after the birth of the French King Henry IV (1553-1610), his grandfather rubbed his lips with a clove of garlic and poured a sip of Sauvignon Blanc into them. This allegedly made the king a later wine connoisseur. There was a mention under the name Sauvignon Fumé or Blanc Fumé in Sancerre in 1783. However, according to a lease contract kept in the monastery of St. Gallen (Switzerland), Sauvignon Blanc was apparently already being cultivated in the municipality of Pfaffenweiler (Markgräflerland) in 1692. The document stipulates that new plantings must be of Roter Burgunder or Muscatsylvaner (Sauvignon Blanc).

According to one hypothesis, Sauvignon Blanc and Savagnin Blanc (Traminer) should have come from Great Moravia via Franconia to the Loire and Bordeaux. A second, more probable variant, however, names France and the Loire as the origin on the basis of some circumstantial evidence. Regardless of the actual exact origin, the variety probably only came to Germany and Austria later. Muscatsylvaner was present in Baden until the Third Reich in the mid-1930s. Under Nazi rule, cultivation was banned in Germany on the grounds that the variety was an "enemy wine". For this reason, it was of no importance in Germany for a long time after the Second World War. It was immortalised as the "Riesling of Würzburg" by the botanist Johann Simon Kerner (1755-1830) around 1800 in his illustrations of grape varieties.

Properties

The early to medium ripening vine is very susceptible to botrytis, powdery mildew and wood diseases in general, such as eutypiosis, but resistant to downy mildew. It produces aromatic, generally acidic white wines with aromas of grass, herbs, gooseberries, green fruits, grapefruit and passion fruit, for which a higher proportion of methoxypyrazines (aromatic substances) is responsible. Due to its special aromatic characteristics, it is called a bouquet variety. The significant aromas make the variety relatively easy to identify. The wines have excellent ageing potential. The variety belongs to the narrowest circle of the so-called Cépages nobles.

Cultivation quantities

In its country of origin, France, Sauvignon Blanc is mainly grown in the regions of Bordeaux, Loire, Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence, where it is permitted in countless appellations. In the Loire, the famous white wines Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé are made from it. However, as a blending partner of the Sémillon variety, the variety also lends freshness and power to the wines, such as the famous wines in the Graves and Sauternes appellations. The area under cultivation in France totals 28,084 hectares. Other countries in Europe are Bulgaria (637 ha), Germany (736 ha), Greece (727 ha), Italy (3,935 ha), Croatia, Moldavia (6,909 ha), Northern Macedonia (185 ha), Austria (1,248 ha), Portugal (102 ha), Romania (5.594 ha), Russia (2,501 ha), Switzerland (170 ha), Serbia (741 ha), Slovakia, Slovenia (1,121 ha), Spain (4,562 ha), Czech Republic (906 ha), Turkey (153 ha), Ukraine (1,550 ha), Hungary (982 ha) and Cyprus.

Other countries are Argentina (2,148 ha), Australia (6,044 ha), Brazil, Chile (14,999 ha), China (2,000 ha), India (500 ha), Israel (110 ha), Japan (15 ha), Canada (285 ha), Lebanon (500 ha), Morocco (440 ha), Mexico (120 ha), Myanmar (22 ha), New Zealand (20.497 ha), South Africa (9,246 ha), Tunisia (85 ha), Uruguay (144 ha) and USA (6,747 ha) with the states of California (~6,000 ha), New York, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and Washington. The variety occupied a total of 124,700 hectares of vineyards in 2016. It thus ranks 10th in the global grape variety ranking (Kym Anderson).

Source: Wine Grapes / J. Robinson, J. Harding, J. Vouillamoz / Penguin Books Ltd. 2012.
Images: Ursula Brühl, Doris Schneider, Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI)

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Markus J. Eser

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Markus J. Eser
Weinakademiker und Herausgeber „Der Weinkalender“

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