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Sylvaner or Silvaner is a variety of white wine grape grown primarily in Alsace and Germany, where its official name is Grüner Silvaner. In Germany it is best known as a component of Liebfraumilch and production boomed in the 1970s to the detriment of quality, but it has long enjoyed a better reputation in Franconia than in other German wine regions. While the Alsatian versions have primarily been considered simpler wines, it was recently (2006) included among the varieties that can be used to produce Alsace Grand Cru wine together with the four 'noble grapes' of Alsace, although only in one vineyard, Zotzenberg. This dichotomy is explained by the vigour of the Sylvaner vine and the grape's neutral flavour, which can lead to blandness unless yields are controlled. On the other hand it gives a blank canvas for the expression of terroir, and on good sites with skilled winemaking, Sylvaner can produce elegant wines. It has high acidity but naturally reaches high must weights, so is often blended with other varieties such as Riesling or Elbling, and is sometimes made into a dessert wine. ==History== Sylvaner is an ancient variety that has long been grown in Central Europe, in Transylvania. DNA fingerprinting has revealed it to be a cross between Traminer and the "hunnic" variety Österreichisch-Weiß (meaning "Austrian White").〔Sefc KM, Steinkellner H, Glössl J, Kampfer S, Regner F (Reconstruction of a grapevine pedigree by microsatellite analysis ) Theoretical and Applied Genetics ISSN 0040-5752 1998, vol. 97, no1-2, pp. 227-231〕 As a result it is now thought to have originated in Austrian Empire (Transylvania). It is thought that the grape came to Germany after the Thirty Years War as there is a record of Sylvaner from Austria being planted at County of Castell in Franconia on 5 April 1659. So Germany celebrated the 350th anniversary of Silvaner in 2009. Its name has been taken to be associated with either Latin ''silva'' (meaning woods) or ''saevum'' (meaning wild), and before modern ampelography it was sometimes assumed that this variety had a close relationship with wild vines.〔(Wein-Plus Glossary: Silvaner )〕 Before DNA typing, some assumed an origin in Transylvania based on its name. A lot of Sylvaner was planted in Germany and Alsace after the Second World War, reaching 30% and 25% respectively of total vineyard area in the 1960s - 1970s. It was Germany's most grown variety until it was overtaken by Müller-Thurgau around 1970. Much of the German crop was blended into Liebfraumilch, but overproduction ruined its reputation, and changing tastes led to many vines being grubbed up. However, in Franconia, where Liebfraumilch may not be produced and which primarily stuck to dry white wines in the decades when most other German regions produced semi-sweet wines, Silvaner has kept its popularity. Single-variety semi-sweet Silvaner, which used to be common, has all but disappeared from the German wine production. More recently there has been a revival in Alsace based on low yields from good vineyard sites, with formal recognition in 2006 as Zotzenburg Sylvaner became the first to be designated an Alsace Grand Cru. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Silvaner」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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