Varieties
Although the various varieties differ in terms of berry colour, aroma, leaf shape and cluster size, as well as vigour, yield and susceptibility to disease, they have almost the same DNA profile with minor differences. They are therefore regarded as a single grape variety, although they are listed separately as independent varieties in many grape variety catalogues. There are three main varieties:
Savagnin Blanc
The French name (also Savagnin) is usually given in international sources. It is not always clear whether it is actually White Traminer or Gewürztraminer. In German-speaking countries, it is known as Gelber Traminer, Weißer Traminer or Traminer. This variety is characterised by odourless, yellow-green berries.
Gewürztraminer
The German name (often with a "u" in English-speaking countries) is also common internationally, and Roter Traminer is also used. In France in particular, it is called Savagnin Rose Aromatique. This most common variety is characterised by aromatic, reddish/orange berries, which give the wine its typical, eponymous note
Savagnin Rose
It is also known as Klevener de Heiligenstein or Savagnin Rose Non Musqué. This non-aromatic variety with reddish-brown berries is found almost exclusively in the French region of Alsace and in the municipality of Durbach (Baden).
In many sources it is not clear which Traminer variety is involved. However, as Gewürztraminer is by far the most common variety in terms of quantity, this is not a problem. Most countries show all Traminer varieties together in their statistics (exceptions are Australia, France, Romania, Russia and Switzerland). In Kym Anderson 's statistics, quantities are reported under the three names Gewürztraminer, Savagnin Blanc (Traminer) and Savagnin Rose (France and Hungary only). The first two quantities are included under the keyword Gewürztraminer.
Parentage
In German-speaking countries, a distinction is usually made in the sources between the two varieties Weißer Traminer or Gelber Traminer and Gewürztraminer or Roter Traminer. If only the name Traminer is given, it is usually Gewürztraminer, but it can also mean the white/yellow Traminer. There are separate keywords with additional information for the two varieties Gewürztraminer and Savagnin Rose (see there).
Various independent DNA analyses carried out in Italy, France, Germany and Austria have proven that the French varieties Savagnin Blanc, Rose and Aromatique, the Swiss varieties Heida, Heidarot and Païen, the Italian Traminer Aromatico and all varieties known as Traminer in German-speaking countries are identical. The Swiss biologist Dr José Vouillamoz therefore believes that it is wrong to speak of a "Traminer family", as this also implies other relationships such as "siblings" or "aunts" and "uncles", which is not the case.
Despite several DNA analyses, the parentage of Traminer has not been completely clarified, and there are three different theories. The first theory is that Traminer was selected from wild vines. According to DNA comparisons, there is a parent-offspring relationship between Pinot and Traminer. However, the assumption of a direct wild vine descent of Traminer is only valid if Traminer is a parent (and not a descendant) of Pinot. This in turn would be consistent with the assumption that the French name Savagnin is derived from "sauvage" (wild), as well as with the morphological similarity between the leaves of Savagnin and wild vines found in the Rhine Valley. To date, however, no genetic link between Traminer and wild vines has been discovered. The second hypothesis assumes a cross between Pinot x unknown variety and the third hypothesis assumes a cross between two unknown extinct varieties. The most likely hypothesis is a presumably natural cross between Pinot x unknown variety.
Origin
A previously often assumed origin from Egypt or the Middle East was substantiated by archaeological finds of ancient grape seeds, which are said to resemble Traminer (Savagnin Blanc). However, this is doubtful, as a comparison or identification using grape seeds is very difficult. An origin from Greece is also unlikely, as no genetic links to Greek varieties have been established to date. The German ampelographer Hermann Goethe (1837-1911) suspected an origin from ancient grape varieties and mentions Aminea, mentioned by Pliny the Elder (23-79). Other sources also mention Nomentana. However, there is no botanical evidence for this.
The exact origin is uncertain; it could come from Germany, France or the Czech Republic (Moravia). The first reliable mention dates back to 1483 in Bebenhausen Monastery near Stuttgart as "Frennsch und Traminer Stoeck". The Swiss botanist Johannes Bauhin (1541-1613) mentions "Muscateller" and "Traminner" as widespread varieties in the Rhine Valley in his work published posthumously in 1650. A Traminer wine was mentioned in the Palatinate village of Rhodt in 1591. There is also a listed vineyard here, where Traminer vines dating back to the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) are said to be around 350 years old and from which wine is still made. In Switzerland, the Heida variety was first mentioned in the canton of Valais in 1586. This was much later in France in 1736 under the name Savagnin Blanc. The origin from Germany therefore seems much more credible.
South Tyrol is often cited as the origin, because there is a place called Tramin (Termeno) south of Bolzano. The botanist Hieronymus Bock (1498-1554) reported in his "Kreütter Buch" in the 1546 edition of "vil (viel) in der Etsch und zu Tramyn wachsenden Traminner-Drauben". The French ampelographer Pierre Galet (1921-2019) also subscribed to this theory and believed that the variety first spread to Switzerland and Germany and then to France. However, several facts speak against a South Tyrolean origin. For example, there are no references to Traminer or any of its synonyms in ampelographic works from Italy before the 19th century. Although Traminer wines from South Tyrol have been traded since the Middle Ages, the name probably refers to the "Großer Traminer" = Räuschling (Traminer descendant), which has been mentioned in Tyrol as "Deutsche Trauben" (Drutsch) since the late Middle Ages.
The graduate biologist Andreas Jung assumes that it originated in Moravia, a part of the Czech Republic. At the time of the Frankish Empire, during the Christianisation of the Slavs in the early Middle Ages, it was introduced together with other Frankish varieties from the eastern Avar March via the Danube to Franconia and Württemberg and from there to western Central Europe. In the Frankish Empire, it was widely cultivated as "Kleinfränkische" or "Rotfränkische" along the western Alps (Savoy, Valais, western Switzerland) as well as in the French Jura and Alsace. The Pannonian Traminer descendants Grüner Veltliner, Rotgipfler and Silvaner support this thesis (Pannonia included Lower Austria and Burgenland, as well as western Hungary).
According to the available historical and genetic data, however, it is now generally assumed to have originated in north-east France (Franche-Comté, Chamapgne-Ardenne, Lorraine and Alsace) and south-west Germany (Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg). The variety was often mentioned in old documents under its numerous synonyms (also used for other varieties), which makes precise identification difficult. Gentil Blanc, for example, was used for the varieties Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Savagnin Blanc. Fromenteau was also a frequently used name. In South Tyrol, a "Vini de Traminne" was already mentioned in Bolzano in 1242 (and interpreted as proof of origin), but this refers to a "wine from Tramin" (i.e. the town) and not the grape variety.
Descendants
Like Heunisch (Gouais Blanc), Traminer is one of the most important leading varieties, from which many others are descended. Its descendants can be regarded as the Franconian gene pool of Central European grape varieties. Alongside Gouais Blanc (White Heunisch), it therefore played a decisive role in the development of many valued European varieties. DNA analyses were used to identify many direct descendants that presumably resulted from natural crossbreeding and to establish parent-offspring relationships (meaning that Traminer could be either parent or descendant). Traminer varieties were also crossing partners in many new varieties.
Adelsfränkisch to Budelho
Carrasquín to Ezerfürtű
Feridac to Goldtraminer
Hartblau to Morava
Neoplanta to Prúeras
Riton to sweet black
Taminga to Würzer
Characteristics
The relatively thick berry skin of this early-ripening vine makes it highly resistant to various fungal diseases, especially botrytis. As a rule, the berries have a balanced sugar-acid ratio. The variety produces well-structured white wines with quality and ageing potential. The most common variety Gewürztraminer in particular produces white wines rich in extract and alcohol with intense aromas of musk (musqué), bitter orange, lychee (lychee tree), marzipan and roses that are typical of the variety. This is why the vine is categorised as a bouquet variety.
Source: Wine Grapes / J. Robinson, J. Harding, J. Vouillamoz / Penguin Books Ltd. 2012
White Traminer: MSBu Internet & Advertising
Gewürztraminer: German Wine Institute DWI
