Elbling () is a variety of white

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 approximately 8,0 ...

(sp. ''

Vitis vinifera ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern ...

'') which today is primarily grown in the upstream parts of the Mosel region in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and in

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, where the river is called

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

. The variety has a long history, and used to cover much of Germany's vineyards from medieval times and was that country's most cultivated variety until the early 20th century, but has been in decline ever since. As of 2006, there were of Elbling vineyards in Germany, which made it the country's 23rd most grown variety of grape. Of that vineyard surface, 575 ha or 98.6% was found in the Mosel regionGerman Wine Institute: German Wine Statistics 2007-2008
In the same year, there were of Elbling grown in Luxembourg.

History and origin

It has been speculated that Elbling was grown along Mosel already in Roman times, and that it could even be identical to the ''Vitis albuelis'' described by Lucius Columella in his ''De re rustica'' and the ''Vitis alba'' described by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

, although this has by no means been proven. Both Latin names mean "the white grape" and would then have been corrupted to Elbling at some later stage.

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

profiling has indicated that Elbling is an offspring of

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 ‘ ...

(also known as Heunisch) and a cross between

Traminer Savagnin () or Savagnin 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 vin de paille. History The history of ...

and some unidentified variety. This parentage is consistent with Elbling being an ancient grape variety, and incidentally, it is the same parentage as for

Riesling Riesling ( , ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling ...

. This parentage and history makes it likely that Elbling originated somewhere in the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

area.

Wines

Elbling tends to give musts low in sugar, and wines high in acid and fairly neutral in character, which makes it primarily used for

sparkling wine Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While it is common to refer to this as champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that word for products exclusively produced in the Champagne ( ...

, such as non-varietally labelled Mosel Sekt. When made into varietal still wine, it gives a wine which has been compared to a lighter and more tart version of

Silvaner Silvaner or Sylvaner () is a variety of white wine grape grown primarily in Alsace wine, Alsace and German wine, Germany, where its official name is Grüner Silvaner. While the Alsatian versions have primarily been considered simpler wines, it ...

. Varietal Elbling wine is most commonly found in Luxembourg.

Synonyms

Elbling is known under the following synonyms:Vitis International Variety Catalogue: Elbling Weiss
, accessed on December 10, 2009 Albana, Albe, Alben, Albig, Albuelin, Albuelis, Allemand, Allemand Blanc, Alsacien, Alva, Argentin, Biela Zrebnina, Bielovacka, Bielovcka, Blesec, Blesez, Bourgeois, Burgauer, Burgeger, Burgegger, Burger, Burger Elbling, Burgundertraube Gruen, Burgyre, Dickelbling, Elbai Feher, Elbe, Elbele, Elben, Elben Feher, Elber, Elbling Weiss, Elbinger, Elmene, Facum, Facun, Facun Blanc, Farantbily, Faucun, Frankenthal Blanc, Gemeine Traube, Geschlachter Burger, Gonais Blanc, Gouais Blanc, Grobburger, Grobe, Grobriesling, Gros Blanc, Grossriesler, Grossriesling, Hartalbe, Haussard, Herblink, Heunisch Gruen, Isodora Brachybus, Klaemmer, Kleinbeer, Kleinbeere, Kleinberger, Klember, Klemmer, Klemplich, Kratkopeccelj, Kristaller, Kristeller, Kurzstingel, Kurzstingl, Kurzstingler, Le Gros, Luttenbershna, Marmont Vert, Marmot, Mehlweisse, Morawka, Mouillet, Naesslinger, Nuernberger Zaeh, Nuesslinger, Pecek, Pezhech, Pezhek, Plant Commun, Plant Madame, Raifrench, Rauhelbene, Reinfransch, Rheinalben, Rheinelbe, Seretonina, Silberweiss, Silvaner Weiss, Spizelbe, Srebonina, Suessgrober, Suessgrobes, Sussgrober, Tarant Bily, Tarant De Boheme, Verdin Blanc, Vert Blanc, Vert Doux, Weissalbe, Weisselben, Weisselbling, Weisser Dickelbling, Weisser Elbling, Weisser Sylvaner, Welsche, Welschel.

References

White wine grape varieties {{Infobox grape variety , name = cat , color = tuxedo , image = Weißer Elbling Traube03b.jpg , caption = , species = ''

'' , also_called = meme other synonyms , origin = probably

, hazards = , regions = Mosel,

, notable_wines =