Crouchen is a white
South African __NOTOC__
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* The nation of South Africa
* South African Airways
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* Southern Africa
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and
Australian wine
The Australian wine industry is one of the world's largest exporters of wine, with approximately 800 million out of the 1.2 to 1.3 billion litres produced annually exported to overseas markets. The wine industry is a significant contributor ...
grape variety
This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see Viti ...
that originated in the western
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...
of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
but is now virtually extinct in France due to its high susceptibility to fungal diseases like
powdery and
downy mildew
Downy mildew refers to any of several types of oomycete microbes that are obligate parasites of plants. Downy mildews exclusively belong to the Peronosporaceae family. In commercial agriculture, they are a particular problem for growers of crucif ...
. The grape is known under a wide variety of synonyms including Clare Riesling and Cape Riesling though it is not related to the well known
international variety
An international variety is a grape variety that is widely planted in most of the major wine producing regions and has widespread appeal and consumer recognition. These are grapes that are highly likely to appear on wine labels as varietal wines ...
Riesling
Riesling (, ; ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling wh ...
.
[J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes'' pg 53 Oxford University Press 1996 ] Recent
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
regulation aimed at standardizing
wine label
Wine labels are important sources of information for consumers since they tell the type and origin of the wine. The label is often the only resource a buyer has for evaluating the wine before purchasing it. Certain information is ordinarily inclu ...
ling laws has encouraged wineries to move away from these synonyms but their use still persists.
[T. Stevenson ''The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia'' Fifth Edition pg 51 Dorling Kindersley (2011) ]
History
![Gros Semillon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Gros_Semillon.jpg)
Records indicate that Crouchen was first shipped from France to the
Clare Valley
The Clare Valley is a valley located in South Australia about north of Adelaide in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys council area. It is the river valley formed by the Hutt River but is also strongly associated with the roughly parallel Hill Riv ...
in
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
in 1850. From there the grape became misidentified as both
Semillon and
Riesling
Riesling (, ; ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling wh ...
before eventually being considered by the Australians to be a new variety known as Clare Riesling. In 1976
ampelographer
Ampelography ( ἄμπελος, "vine" + γράφος, "writing") is the field of botany concerned with the identification and classification of grapevines, ''Vitis'' spp. Traditionally this has been done by comparing the shape and colour of the ...
Paul Truel
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People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
positively identified the vines growing in Australia as the French variety Crouchen.
Wine regions
![Rieslingtraube](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Rieslingtraube.JPG)
In the early 1990s, there were over 1,000 acres (420 hectares) of Crouchen growing throughout Australia but its numbers have been steadily declining over the past few decades.
[Oz Clarke ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' pg 85 Harcourt Books 2001 ] Here is it is primarily used as a blending variety to enhance the
aromas of white wines.
It is still widely grown in South Africa, accounting for almost 3% of all of South Africa's vineyards, with more than 7,900 acres (3,200 ha) planted mostly in the
Paarl
Paarl (; Afrikaans: ; derived from ''Parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a town with 112,045 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the third-oldest city and European settlement in the Republic of South Africa (after ...
and
regions.
Here the variety is known as Cape Riesling but is often simply called Riesling as opposed to the
German wine
German wine is primarily produced in the west of Germany, along the river Rhine and its tributaries, with the oldest plantations going back to the Ancient Rome, Roman era. Approximately 60 percent of German wine is produced in the state of Rhine ...
grape Riesling that is known in South Africa as Weisser or White Riesling. Wine expert
Jancis Robinson
Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, ComMA, MW (born 22 April 1950) is a British wine critic, journalist and wine writer. She currently writes a weekly column for the ''Financial Times'', and writes for her website JancisRobinson.com, updated daily. She ...
notes that some examples of Cape Riesling do have the potential to
age
Age or AGE may refer to:
Time and its effects
* Age, the amount of time someone or something has been alive or has existed
** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1
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and improve in the bottle.
Oz Clarke
Robert Owen Clarke (born 1949), known as Oz Clarke, is a British wine writer, actor, television presenter and broadcaster.
Early life
Clarke's parents were a chest physician and a nursing sister. He is of Irish descent and was brought up Roman ...
notes that some the best examples of Crouchen can be "fairly steely".
Synonyms
Crouchen is also known under the synonyms Basque, Cape Riesling, Cheri Cerratia, Clare Riesling, Cougnet, Crochenta, Crouchen Blanc, Cruchen, Cruchen Blanc, Cruchenta, Cruchenton Blanc, Grand Blanc, Hondarribi Zuri, Kaapse Riesling, Messanges Blanc, Navarre Blanc, Paarl Riesling, Riesling, Riesling Vert, S. A. Riesling, Sable Blanc, Sales Blanc, Trouchet Blanc, and Zurizerratia.
[Crouchen](_blank)
, Vitis International Variety Catalogue
The Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) is a database of various species and varieties/cultivars of grapevine, the genus ''Vitis''. VIVC is administered by the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding (''Institut für Rebenzüchtung Gei ...
, accessed 2010-07-14
References
{{Reflist
White wine grape varieties
Australian wine
South African wine