Sylvaner - wine grape variety

Sylvaner, spelt Silvaner in Germany, was formerly the leading wine grape of that country, but in recent years it has declined considerably with the rise of newly bred varieties such as Kerner, Scheurebe and Bacchus. From 18 781 ha in 1964 the area of Sylvaner dropped to 7600 ha in 1994, while the combined area of the other three varieties rose from 349 ha to 15 000 ha. The variety may have originated in Austria, although there is only a small area there, and it can be found under various names through central and south-eastern Europe. In France the area has remained fairly steady and there were 2617 ha in 1988. There were 588 ha in California in 1982, but this had decreased to 75 ha by 1992. A few small plantings have been made in Australia.

Sylvaner is a vigorous, rather upright-growing and productive variety. It has clear green, slightly 3-lobed, smooth and undulating leaves without hair on the lower surface. The petio-lar sinus is a narrow V. The bunches are small to medium in size, slightly conical and well filled with medium, round berries.

Under some circumstances Sylvaner can give a fruity, distinctive wine, but usually it gives a neutral wine which is well suited to blending. One of the newly bred German varieties, Morio Muskat, which is considered rather highly flavoured for use alone, has found a place as a blending partner for Sylvaner.