Savagnin rose or Roter Traminer is a

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

of wine

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, ...

.Savagnin Rose

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 on June 20, 2010 It has a pink, reddish or brownish red skin colour, but is counted as a

white wine White wine is a wine that is Fermentation in winemaking, fermented without skin contact. The wine color, colour can be straw-yellow, yellow-green, or yellow-gold. It is produced by the alcoholic fermentation of the non-coloured Juice vesicles, ...

grape since it does not have the deep purple/blue/black colour of

red wine Red wine is a type of wine made from dark-colored grape varieties. The color of the wine can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, through to brick red for mature wines and brown for older red wines. The juice from most purple grap ...

grapes. Savagnin rose is a member of the

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 of grapes, and as such is related to both

Savagnin Blanc 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 ...

and

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 ...

. It has a different skin colour than Savagnin Blanc, and does not have the aromatic properties of the much more common

, which is a

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 ...

mutation of Savagnin rose, or of a similar red-skinned Traminer variety. Savagnin rose is now relatively rare in cultivation, and primarily found only in pure plantation and varietal wines 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 ...

, where the designation

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 ...

denotes a wine produced from Savagnin rose. It is also likely that a proportion of non-musqué red Traminer exists side by side with musqué red Traminer/Gewürztraminer in older vineyards of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. 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 ...

. 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 were discontinued from use on Alsatian wine labels. Due to the significant plantings of Savagnin rose in

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 the villages around it, the wine style of "Klevener de Heiligenstein" was granted a grace period for use of that name.Oz Clarke ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'' pg 105 Harcourt Books 2001

Synonyms

For the Traminer family in general, it is difficult to establish where the line goes between synonyms and different varieties. Savagnin rose is however also known under the synonyms Clevner, Drumin, Fromenteau rouge, Heiligensteiner Clevner, Heiligensteiner Klevner, Klevner Livora, Livora Cervena, Prinç, Prinç Ceverny, Roter Traminer, Ryvola, Savagnin rose non musqué, Tramin Cerveny, Tramin Diseci, Tramin Korenny, Tramin Rdeci, Traminac Crveni, Traminac Rdeci, Traminer rose, Traminer Rot, Traminer Roz.

References

{{reflist White wine grape varieties