Savagnin or Savagnin blanc (not to be confused with

Sauvignon blanc is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in ...

) is a variety of white

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

with green-skinned berries. It is mostly grown in the Jura region 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 ...

, where it is made into Savagnin wine or the famous

vin jaune ''Vin jaune'' (French language, French for "yellow wine") is a special and characteristic type of white wine made in the Jura (wine), Jura region in eastern France. It is similar to dry fino Sherry and gets its character from being matured in a ...

and vin de paille.

History

The history of Savagnin is complicated and not helped by its rather unstable

genome In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding ge ...

. The story starts with the ancient Traminer variety, a green-skinned grape recorded in the

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

ean village of Tramin from ca. 1000 until the 16th century. (This region now lies in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

province of

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

). The famous

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 ...

Pierre Galet Pierre Galet (28 January 1921 – 30 December 2019) was a French ampelographer and author who was an influential figure within ampelography in the 20th century and before DNA typing was widely introduced. Beginning in the 1950s, Pierre Galet introd ...

thought that Traminer was identical to the green-skinned Savagnin blanc in the Jura.winepros.com.au. More recently it has been suggested that Savagnin blanc acquired slight differences in its leaf shape and

geraniol Geraniol is a monoterpenoid and an alcohol. It is the primary component of citronella oil and is a primary component of rose oil, palmarosa oil. It is a colorless oil, although commercial samples can appear yellow. It has low solubility in w ...

content as it travelled to the other end of the Alps. Frankisch in Austria, Heida and Païen in Switzerland, Formentin in Hungary and tramín bílý (brynšt) from Bohemia are all very similar to Savagnin blanc and probably represent clones of the Traminer family, if not Traminer itself. The

Viognier Viognier () is a white wine grape variety. It is the only permitted grape for the French wine Condrieu in the Rhône Valley.J. Robinson ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 754 Oxford University Press 2006 Outside of the Rhôn ...

of the Rhone Valley may be a more distant relative of Savagnin blanc. At some point, either Traminer or Savagnin blanc mutated into a form with pink-skinned berries, called Red Traminer or

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

musqué ''Musqué'' is a French term applied to certain varieties or clones of grapes used for making wine. The term means both perfumed ("musky") and Muscat-like, and indicates that the variety or clone is highly aromatic. The term ''musqué'' is usual ...

('muscat-like') mutation in the Red Traminer/Savagnin rose then led to the extra-aromatic

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 ...

, although in Germany these names are all regarded as synonymous. Given that the wine made from 'Gewürztraminer' in Germany can be much less aromatic than that made in Alsace, some of the German vines may well be misidentified Savagnin rose. The Baden vineyard of Durbach claims its own type of Red Traminer called Durbacher Clevner (not to be confused with "Klevner", an Austrian synonym for

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 ...

). The story goes that in 1780

Karl Friedrich, Grand Duke of Baden Charles Frederick (22 November 1728 – 10 June 1811) was Margrave, Elector and later Grand Duke of Baden (initially only Margrave of Baden-Durlach) from 1738 until his death. Biography Born at Karlsruhe, he was the son of Hereditary Prince Fred ...

brought vines from

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 ...

in Italy, halfway between Tramin and the Jura, which was known to the Germans as Cleven. The

Klevener de Heiligenstein Klevener de Heiligenstein, also known in English by its German name, Heiligensteiner Klevener, is a designation used on Alsace wine made from pink-skinned Savagnin rose grapes, a variety in the Traminer family, but which is less aromatic than G ...

or Heiligensteiner Klevener found around Heiligenstein 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 ...

may represent an outpost of the Durbach vines. The varieties

Aubin blanc Aubin blanc (or simply Aubin) is a white wine grape from the upper reaches of the Moselle valley in eastern France. History DNA fingerprinting has shown that Aubin is the result of a cross between Gouais blanc and Savagnin. Gouais blanc was wid ...

and the Champagne grape

Petit Meslier Petit Meslier is a rare white wine grape that is a minor component of some Champagne blends. It is valued for its ability to retain acidity even in hot vintages. In the very rare cases where it is not blended, it makes crisp wines tasting of appl ...

may be the result of a cross between

Gouais blanc Gouais blanc () or Weißer Heunisch () is a white grape variety that is seldom grown today but is important as the ancestor of many traditional French and German grape varieties. The name ''Gouais'' derives from the old French adjective ‘ ...

and Savagnin blanc.

Distribution and wines

France

Savagnin blanc is mostly grown in the Jura. In 2007, total French plantations of the variety stood at . It is most famous as the only grape allowed in the

s of Château-Chalon and L'Étoile, similar to fino sherry with a covering of flor but not fortified and without the use of the solera system. Savagnin is blended with Chardonnay to make a conventional dry white wine in L'Étoile and Côtes du Jura, the fortified Macvin du Jura, a sparkling wine called

Crémant du Jura Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While the phrase commonly refers to champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that term for products exclusively produced in the Champagne reg ...

. It is also blended into Côtes du Jura vin de paille, a

dessert wine Dessert wines, sometimes called pudding wines in the United Kingdom, are sweet wines typically served with dessert. There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a meal ...

made from grapes left to dry on straw. The Gringet of Savoie has no link with Savagnin blanc.

Germany

Durbach is home to some plantings of Red Traminer in Germany with potentially more plantings from misidentified Gewürztraminer that may actually be Red Traminer.

Switzerland

Not surprisingly the

Swiss Alps The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss ...

are home to a Traminer-like grape, called Heida, first recorded in 1586. The alternative name Païen or Paën may refer to an ancient, pre-Christian origin (

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

) or to ''pays'' (land) in the sense of local.

Visperterminen Visperterminen (Walser German: ''Tärbinu'') is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History Visperterminen is first mentioned in the 11th Century as ''Termenum''. In 1221 it was mentioned as ''Terminum ...

in the

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...

is home to some of the highest vineyards in Europe, where Heida is made into table and

Australia

In 2009 it was first discovered that grape growers and wine makers in Australia have been supplying and selling Savagnin wrongly labelled for several years. They thought they were pouring money into the market for the Spanish albarino grape, only to discover this is not the case. From 2009 vintage onward these wines have been labelled Savagnin. A visiting French expert raised questions in 2008, and DNA testing confirmed that the grapes are in fact Savagnin sourced from Spanish cuttings. The variety itself may have originated in Spain or France.

Vine and viticulture

Savagnin blanc is very late ripening, and may be picked as late as December. Like its cousin Gewürztraminer, it is a temperamental grape to grow, with low yields at the end of it.

Synonyms

As explained above, genetic instability means that the Traminer/Savagnin group should be regarded as a family of related clones rather than distinct varieties. These are the synonyms currently listed by Geilweilerhof for Savagnin blanc : Auvernat blanc, Bon blanc, Forment, Formentin blanc, Fraentsch, Fromenteau, Gentil blanc, Gruenedel, Princ Bily, Printsch Grau, Ryvola Bila, Schleitheimer, Servoyen blanc, Traminer D'Ore, Traminer Weiss, Traminac. With the red mutant, the Geilweilerhof see no difference between it and Gewürztraminer - and some of the synonyms below may belong to the original green-skinned form. Auvernas rouge, Blanc Brun, Blanc Court, Bon blanc, Christkindeltraube, Clevner, Crovena Ruzica, Dreimaenner, Dreimannen, Dreipfennigholz, Drumin, Duret rouge, Edeltraube, Fermentin rouge, Fleischweiner, Fourmenteau rouge, Frencher, Fromente, Fromenteau, Fuszeres, Gentil Rose Aromatique, Gentil-duret rouge, Gentile blanc, Gewuerztraminer, Gringet, Gris rouge, Haiden, Kirmizi Traminer, Klaebinger, Klaevner, Kleinbraun, Kleinwiener, Livora Cervena, Mala Dinka, Marzimmer, Mirisavi Traminac, Nature, Nature rose, Noble rose, Nuernberger Rot, Pinat Cervena, Piros Tramini, Plant Paien, Princ Cerveny, Princt Cervena, Ranfoliza, Rotclevner, Rotedel, Roter Nuernberger, Roter Traminer, Rotfranken, Rothklauser, Rothweiner, Rothwiener, Rotklaevler, Rotklaevner, Rotklevner, Rousselet, Rusa, Ruska, Ryvola, Salvagnin, Sauvagnin, Savagnin jaune, Savagnin Rosa Aromatique, Savagnin rose, St. Klauser, Termeno Aromatico, Tramin Cerveny, Tramin Korenny, Traminac Crveni, Traminac Diseci, Traminac Mirisavi, Traminer, Traminer Aromatico, Traminer Musque, Traminer Parfume, Traminer Rot, Traminer Rozovyi, Tramini Piros, Trammener.