Zierfandler is a

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 ...

variety used to make white wine in the Thermenregion of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. It is also known as Spätrot ("late red") because it turns red just before harvest time. It is traditionally blended with

Rotgipfler Rotgipfler is a grape variety used to make aromatic white wine. It is almost exclusively found in the Gumpoldskirchen district of the Thermenregion in Austria. It is often blended with Zierfandler (which is also known as ''Spätrot'') to mak ...

but is increasingly being sold as a varietal wine. Zierfandler wines are typically elegant and quite sweet, but with much balancing acidity and a nutty bouquet of pistachios and almonds. They are capable of ageing well.

History

Zierfandler is probably a cross between Roter Veltliner and something like

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 ...

.Documentation Austrian Wine 2005
A "weiss" (white) form is found in Hungary. Zierfandler may be the inadvertent origin of the name

Zinfandel Zinfandel (also known as Primitivo) is a variety of black-skinned wine grape. The variety is grown in over 10 percent of California vineyards. DNA analysis has revealed that it is genetically equivalent to the Croatian grapes Crljenak Kašt ...

, which has its roots in a Croatian grape collected by the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

in Vienna. George Gibbs, a horticulturist on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, received several shipments of vines from the Imperial nursery in the 1820s, one of which he called "Black Zinfardel of Hungary".Chapter 2
/ref> This doesn't correspond to any known grape, but Webster suggests that Zinfandel is a corruption of ''tzinifándli'' (''czirifandli''), a Hungarian word derived from the German word Zierfandler.Zinfandel etymology
Merriam-Webster Since Zierfandler is very different from Zinfandel, someone would have had to have mixed up labels along the way.

Distribution and wines

There were 98.24ha in Austria in 2005, less than 0.3% of Austria vineyards, of which 85.03ha were in Thermenregion. It is traditionally blended with

in that region. These wines, known as Spätrot-Rotgipfler, are a particular speciality of

Gumpoldskirchen Gumpoldskirchen ( Central Bavarian: ''Gumpoidskiachn'') is a town in the district of Mödling in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. Gumpoldskirchen borders on the municipalities Mödling, Guntramsdorf, Gaaden, Pfaffstätten and Traiskirchen. ...

, south of Vienna. It is grown in Hungary under the name Cirfandli and in Slovenia as Zerjavina.

Vine and viticulture

The characteristic of the grapes is the way the sides exposed to the sun turns red as they ripen. Zierfandler ripens late, and is prone to

noble rot Noble rot (; ; ; ) is the beneficial form of a grey fungus, ''Botrytis cinerea'', affecting wine grapes. Infestation by ''Botrytis'' requires warm and humid conditions, typically around 20 degrees Celsius and above 80% humidity. If the weather ...

. The leaves are large and 3-5 lobed. The bunches are large, conical and sometimes winged.

Synonyms

Cilifai, Cilifan, Cirfandli, Cirifai, Cirifai Piros, Cirifan, Gumpoldskirchener, Gumpoldskirchener Spätrot, Gumpoldskirchener Spätroth, Kesoei Piros, Kirmizi Zierfahndler, Nemes Cirfandli, Piros Cirfandli, Piroscirfandli, Raifler, Reifler Rot, Roter Raifler, Roter Reifler, Roter Zierfandler, Roth Hensch, Rother Raifler, Rother Zierfahndler, Rothhinschen, Rothreifler, Rotreifler, Rubiner, Spätrot, Zerjavina and Zierfandler Rot.

Notes and references

External links

VIVC Bibliography
{{Wines White wine grape varieties Austrian wine