The Graševina Grape

(Synonyms: Borba, Graševina Bijela, Italian Riesling, Laški Rizling, Olasz Rizling, Olaszrizling, Riesling Italico, Rismi, Risli, Rizling Vlašsky, Rizlink Vlašsky, Taljanska Graševina, Vojvodina, Wälschriesling, Welschriesling)

Background

Graševina/Welschriesling is a white-wine grape originating in central Europe. There are various theories about its exact place of origin, but no one seems very sure; Croatia or thereabouts seems most likely. It is nowadays grown throughout central and eastern Europe, and is widely known under each of its two leading synonyms, Graševina and Welschriesling.

Which name to use as the primary heading is a difficult choice. We were persuaded by Jancis Robinson’s arguments that since the wine is wholly unrelated to actual Riesling, use of the Welschriesling name is just pointlessly confusing. The prefix “Welchs” means “foreign” or “alien” (the same as “Welsh” in English). Regrettably, Welchsriesling is what the grape is still called in most places; but in the locale where it reputedly grows best and produces the finest wines—and likely originated—Croatia, it is called Graševina, and it is probably those wines that one first seeking out the type should sample.

Graševina is another of a fairly large number of wines, mostly but not entirely whites, that have little repute as dry table wines because they are usually used to make sweet dessert wines. (In Austria, a major producer, the emphasis is clearly on the dessert wines the grape can make.) But, as with most or all of that class, when vinified with some care as a dry table wine, it can make good to excellent wine. Other problems that have plagued Graševina are one, that it was often in past (and to some extent still today) used to make cheap plonk, which relates to two, which is that it can run riot in the vineyard, which produces quantity at the definite expense of quality. Only by carefully controlling yields can good grapes, and thus good wine, be made. (It didn’t help the wine’s reputation when, in the bad old days, the Soviets forced foolishly high outputs of cheap, watery junk wines throughout Eastern Europe.)

Dry Graševina when young tends toward a light color and a notable aroma and taste of apples; mature Graševina shows strong minerality, with citrus and stone fruit aromas and flavors.

A note on Croatian wine-quality designations: “Kvalitetno” denotes “quality” wine; its counterpart, meaning “premium quality”;, is “Vrhunsko”; see Wikipedia.

Factoid: Graševina is often used, especially in Austria, as the base wine for sparkling wines.

Some Descriptions of Graševina/Welschriesling Wines

Neal Martin, eRobertParker, reprinted on "Wines of Croatia"
“I am convinced that Grasevina can produce fine white wine, indeed I fondly recall an impressive flight at the International Wine Challenge last April. Probably the best thing that anyone did was change the name and banish the associations we have with the much-derided Laski Rizling. Grasevina is easy to pronounce and provides a hook for some lovely, fresh, aromatic Croatian wines that perhaps need to work on their length: abundant flavour on the front palate but not the back-end to really make an impression. Growers need to watch those yields because they can engender bland, anonymous wines if not kept in check.”
Croatian Wines
“Usually by far the best Grasevina come from Kutjevo areas, though in the dry and hot years such as the 2003 exceptional quality Grasevina also can be found in the vineyards of northwestern Croatia, such as Plesivica. In good years Grasevina displays aromas and flavors of fresh juicy apple. Grasevina ripens late, the harvest are usually in the second half of October, a young wine has a beautiful light yellow-green color, while the mature Grasevina predominate yellow tones.”
the drinks business
“In the right sites in Croatia, and where a green harvest is practised, Graševina will produce a wine that is full bodied with fresh acidity, and, stressed [wine writer Saša] Špiranec, marked minerality.”
Wine Searcher
“Wine made from Welschriesling lacks strong aromas and is widely considered to be of lower quality than the great Rieslings of Germany and France. The exception are those from Austria, where Welschriesling’s high acidity is employed to create Trockenbeerenauslese wines that rely more on their luscious sweetness and texture than aromatic profile. A number of late-harvest wines are also produced from Welschriesling wines around the world.”
Austrian Wine
“The versatile Welschriesling can cover almost all quality levels: from base wine for neutral, acidity-accented sparking wines (the grapes come mostly from the area around Poysdorf in the Weinviertel) to easy-drinking Buschenschank (tavern) wines from the Steiermark, to the noble sweet TBA wines from Burgenland, especially from the Seewinkel…The wines are very good for the production of sparkling wine, but they are also excellent for Prädikat wine as well. The quality range is very extensive…Yields wines with generous acidity and a fruity bouquet exuding notes of green apple and lemon. While dry Welschrieslings can be very fresh culinary companions, the Prädikat [off-dry] versions are amongst the truly great sweet wines of the world. Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese styles have a golden-yellow hue, the bouquet wafts with exotic fruit and the palate delivers a fine honey note along with the characteristic acidity.”
Wine Geeks
“The wine is best known for producing dry wines that are light, slightly floral and have a nice blend of citrus and stone fruits. Welschriesling takes well to warmer climates, as in cooler climates it can be overly acidic. More productive than true Riesling (which is usually called Johannisberg or Rheinriesling when it is found in the same regions as Welschreisling) though generally it is not as long-lived or as fragrant as its similarly named counterpart. The best examples of Welschriesling hail from the Burgenland area of Austria where it can be found in both dry and sweet versions. Fine wines of Trockenbeerenauslese levels of Noble Rot made from the Welschriesling are not uncommon. Dry versions can be found extensively in the northern Italian regions of Trentino, Collio and Friuli, as well as in Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria and other areas of the former Soviet Republic.”
Fringe Wine
“Welschriesling is made into a wide range of styles, but the two most common are dry table wines and late harvest/botrytized sweet wines.”
FindTheBest
“The Grasevina has been known to exhibit apricot, berry (general), peach, and rose characteristics.”

Some Graševinas/Welschrieslings to Try

Croatian wine is emerging on the world stage, but has yet to have had much impact in the U.S., primarily for the same reason Swiss wines suffer obscurity: though excellent, they are scarce, and the locals drink almost all that is made. Thus, as is all too often the case with lesser-known varieties, there is a dire paucity of offerings available at retail in the U.S., and most of what there is at all is very scarce, often (according to the wine-search engines) carried by but a single retailer.

The brief list below rather bends our usual rules regarding the three tests—quality/price/availability; but, so that you can at least have a sense of what’ss out there in the U.S. retail market, here it is. All of them are from Croatia.

In all cases, these wines or any Graševina, caveat emptor: many wineries also make sweet dessert wines from this grape, or other price-level bottlings, and retailers’ listings (and even the makers' labels) often do not distinguish carefully. Make sure that if you want a table-wine Welschriesling or Graševina, that that is what you’re going to get. (The listed wines seem all dry, table-wine renditions.)

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This page was last modified on Saturday, 30 October 2021, at 11:26 pm Pacific Time.

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