A very old small berry Valais grape, difficult to cultivate. It is an aromatic specialty limited almost exclusively to Valais. Some clone or mutation of the Muscat is grown on almost every continent.
Vieux Muscat du Pays
Wine Styles:
Aperitif and dessert wine
Origin:
Switzerland Sylvaner
Originally from the Danube basin, Sylvaner is widely planted in well-exposed locations in Valais where it ripens later than Chasselas, producing wines with good body, bouquet and acidity. It is also used, although rarely, for late harvest wine.
Synonyms:
Johannisberg (French-speaking Valais), Rhine or Grüner (German-speaking areas)
Sémillon
Hard to believe that Sémillon’s main claim to fame is its propensity to rot, but because of its soft skin Sémillon is prone to Botrytis cinerea (a.k.a. “noble rot”). The “rot” concentrates the acid and sugar in the grape, and the resulting wine can be complex, rich, sweet, and aromatic. In short: pretty damn nice. The best known of this sweet style wine is Sauternes, coming from the Sauternais region of the Graves, near Bordeaux in France.
Sémillon can also make an elegant dry white wine, but since it can be short on acidity, it is often vinified with Sauvignon blanc.
Synonyms:
Malaga; Chevrier; Goulon Blanc, Blanc Doux; Monsois Blanc; Colombarride; Colombier; Goulue Blanc, Semillon Muscat, Semillon Roux, Semillon Crucillant; Groendruif; Sauternes; Greengrape; Petit Semillon, St. Emilion; Wynedruif; Hunter River Riesling; Semijon; Barnawartha Pinot; Boal; Semillon Feher; Sotern
Wine Styles:
Dry white wine, late harvest, dessert wine, ice wine
Regions Grown:
Valais and Ticino Rèze
Rèze is an extremely rare white variety found only in Valais. Not often produced as a varietal, Rèze is blended with other Vieux Plants of Valais. Rèze was also used to make the historic “vin des glaciers”, an amber colored wine produced in Val d’Anniviers using the solera technique.
No longer done today, one method in the past was to store Rèze in larch wood barrels, which gave the wine resinous flavor similar to the Greek Retsina, and masking some grape flavor.
Synonyms:
Resi, Resi Vert et jaune
Origin:
Indigenous Planscher
Planscher belongs to a group of grapes that do well in the Alpine regions of Italy and in Valais, Switzerland. An ancient white wine grape vine once found in the Rhone valley, it was close to being extinct. Today small amounts of Planscher grow in Visperterminen, Canton Valais.
Synonyms:
Barolo, Bourguignon, Bourgogne Blanc, Gamay Blanc, Gros Bourgogne, Bourgogne Gros Rhin Gros, Plant du Rhin and Schaffhausen
Pinot Gris
Called Malvoisie in Valais, this grape has nothing to do with any of the Malvoisie varieties of the Muscat family and is another of the mutations of Pinot Noir. A vine grown in many of the Swiss areas, in Valais, Pinot Gris produces a fine sweet late harvest wine with honey overtones.
Synonyms:
Malvoisie (French-speaking Valais), Grauer Burgunder, Ruländer, Tokayer (German-speaking areas)
Wine Styles:
rich, white wines, sometimes with residual sugar
Origin:
France Pinot blanc
Pinot blanc is a mutation of Pinot Gris. It may have found its way up the Rhône to Valais with any number of mercenaries returning to Switzerland, and today small quantities are cultivated in many Swiss wine regions. When grown in favorable conditions it produces a fruity wine with good acidity.
Synonyms:
Weissburgunder, Fehér Burgundi (Hungary), Pinot bianco (Spain and Italy), Rulandské Bilé (Czech), Rulandské Biele (Slovak)
Wine Styles:
Light to fruity wine
Origin:
Germany Schaffhausen, Land of Blauburgunder
Blauburgunder, did I hear you say? Oh yeah, Schaffhausen’s nickname of Blauburgunderland is well deserved. Blauburgunder, or Pinot noir for the rest of us, is by far the dominant wine grape in Schaffhausen. Read more »
Ticino Wine Region: Switzerland’s Home of Merlot
Welcome to Ticino, Switzerland’s sunny, Italian-speaking home of Merlot. Although the climate in Ticino ultimately proved to be ideal for Merlot, it wasn’t until 1906 that this venerable grape found its way there from Bordeaux. Read more »
The Wine Grapes of Switzerland
Rèze
Rèze is an extremely rare white variety found only in Valais. Not often produced as a varietal, Rèze is blended with other Vieux Plants of Valais. Rèze was also used to make the historic “vin des glaciers”, an amber colored wine produced in Val d’Anniviers using the solera technique.
No longer done today, one method in the past was to store Rèze in larch wood barrels, which gave the wine resinous flavor similar to the Greek Retsina, and masking some grape flavor.
Nobling
Nobling is a cross between Silvaner and Chassalas from Staatliches Weinbauinstitut at Freiburg. It’s being tested in Valais and can be found in retail.
Blatina
A red wine grape of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Wine comes in at the mouth And love comes in at the eye; That's all we shall know for truth Before we grow old and die. I lift the glass to my mouth, I look at you, and sigh.
William Butler Yeats
