Klevener de Heiligenstein, also known in English by its German name, Heiligensteiner Klevener, is a designation used on

Alsace wine Alsace wine or Alsatian wine (french: Vin d'Alsace; german: Elsässer Wein; gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, d'r Wii vum Elsàss; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, de Win vum Elsàss) is produced in the Alsace region in France and is primarily whi ...

made from pink-skinned

Savagnin rose Savagnin rose or Roter Traminer is a variety of wine grape.Savagnin Rose

Traminer Savagnin or Savagnin blanc (not to be confused with Sauvignon blanc) is a variety of white wine grape with green-skinned berries. It is mostly grown in the Jura region of France, where it is made into Savagnin wine or the famous vin jaune and vi ...

family, but which is less aromatic than

Gewürztraminer Gewürztraminer () is an aromatic wine grape variety, used in white wines, and performs best in cooler climates. In English, it is sometimes referred to colloquially as Gewürz (; although this is never the case in German, because "Gewürz" me ...

, which is widely planted in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

. The designation may be allowed for selected vineyards in the villages Bourgheim, Gertwiller,

Goxwiller Goxwiller (; ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. Geography Goxwiller is effectively a one-street village between flat arable land to one side and southward sloping vineyards to the other. It has become ...

Heiligenstein Heiligenstein is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. Its name means ''holy rock''. It lies some to the north of Sélestat. See also * Klevener de Heiligenstein, a wine from Heiligenstein and surrounding vi ...

and

Obernai Obernai ( Alsatian: ''Owernah''; german: Oberehnheim) commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. It lies on the eastern slopes of the Vosges mountains. Obernai is a rapidly growing city, its number of inhabitants hav ...

but, under current

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

rules,INAO: AOC Alsace appellation regulations, updated until February 16, 2006
/ref> the designation may be used until 2021 for specified existing vineyards outside the designation area. Since Savagnin rose is not a permitted variety for other Alsace wines, its replanting outside this area is not allowed. Since most Alsace wines are

varietal A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.winepros.com.au. ...

ly labeled, it is a common misunderstanding to believe "Klevener de Heiligenstein" to be a local variety. In fact, it is the only geographical designation within the

Appellation d'origine contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

(AOC) Alsace.

History

The Savagnin vine was introduced to the Alsace region in 1740 by Erhard Wantz, mayor of the village of Heiligenstein.

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 ...

s believe that the cuttings that Wantz brought originated from vineyards planted in the

Italian Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

near

Chiavenna Chiavenna ( lmo, Ciavèna ; la, Clavenna; rm, Clavenna or ''Claven''; archaic german: Cläven or ''Kleven'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sondrio in the northern Italian region of Lombardy. It is the centre of the Alpine ...

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

. J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 382 Oxford University Press 2006 In 1971, Vins par régions/Alsace
Klevener de Heiligenstein
" (French) Accessed: Jan 2nd, 2008 the Klevener de Heiligenstein designation was included in the AOC regulations for Alsace. It is not a separate

, but rather a designation within

Alsace AOC Alsace wine or Alsatian wine (french: Vin d'Alsace; german: Elsässer Wein; gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, d'r Wii vum Elsàss; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, de Win vum Elsàss) is produced in the Alsace region in France and is primarily whi ...

which is defined both in terms of the grape variety and location within Alsace. This differs Klevener de Heiligenstein from the other varietal designations of Alsace AOC, which may be used in the entire region. Also, Savagnin rose grape is the only Alsatian grape variety which is restricted to a specific subregion of Alsace, i.e. to Heiligenstein and the specified areas of the surrounding villages cited above. T. Stevenson ''"The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia"'' pg 194 Dorling Kindersley 2005

Relationship to Gewürztraminer

The vines of the Savagnin rose variety planted in Alsace bear striking similarities, morphologically, to Gewürztraminer vines and are almost indistinguishable on inspection. Outside of

DNA testing Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

and analysis of the wine that both grapes produce, the only noticeable difference is that just prior to ''

veraison In viticulture, veraison (french: véraison, ) is the onset of the ripening of the grapes. The official definition of ''veraison'' is "change of color of the grape berries". Veraison represents the transition from berry growth to berry ripening, ...

'' the grapes of Savagnin rose turn almost

translucent In the field of optics, transparency (also called pellucidity or diaphaneity) is the physical property of allowing light to pass through the material without appreciable scattering of light. On a macroscopic scale (one in which the dimensions a ...

while the skins of Gewürztraminer grapes are more

opaque Opacity or opaque may refer to: * Impediments to (especially, visible) light: ** Opacities, absorption coefficients ** Opacity (optics), property or degree of blocking the transmission of light * Metaphors derived from literal optics: ** In lingu ...

. While Gewürztraminer was present in Alsace since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, the 18th century introduction of Savagnin rose did cause some confusion among vineyards as to which variety they had planted. The most obvious way to distinguish the two was to compare the type of wines that each produces with Gewürztraminer wine being much more aromatic. Until the 1970s, winemakers would label wines of better quality "Gewürztraminer" and wines of lesser quality "Traminer" or "Klevener de Heiligenstein", regardless of the final composition of Gewürztraminer, Savagnin rose and/or Traminer in the wine. In 1973, the names Traminer and Savagnin Rose was discontinued from use on Alsatian wine labels. Due to the significant and early plantings of Savagnin rose in Heiligenstein and the villages around it, the wine style of "Klevener de Heiligenstein" was granted its place however.

Wine style

Klevener de Heiligenstein does have some similarities to wines made from its cousin grape, Gewürztraminer. Both can produce dry wines with a slight spicy flavor that has the potential to age well, especially in favorable

vintage Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...

s. It is less aromatic than Gewürztraminer with higher

acidity In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

and lower

alcohol level Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

s. Some styles can show a slight

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condiment ...

y flavor. J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 16 Oxford University Press 2006 Outside of exceptional vintages, Klevener de Heiligenstein typically has delicate fruit flavors that start to fade after 2–4 years. The wine is not to be confused with other wine made from

grape varieties 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 ...

named Klevner, such as

Pinot blanc Pinot blanc is a white wine grape. It is a point genetic mutation of Pinot noir. Pinot noir is genetically unstable and will occasionally experience a point mutation in which a vine bears all black fruit except for one cane which produces white ...

which have frequently been called Klevner in Alsace, although this use seems on the decline.

References

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