Mother: Merzling
Father: Gm 6493 (Zarya severa x Muskat Ottonel)

A white Piwi/disease-resistant variety.

Year of breeding: 1975 (protected since 2001)
Country of origin: Germany
Breeder/License holder: Staatliches Weinbauinstitut Freiburg
Number of clones: 0

Year of entry into the German Federal Office's Varieties Register:
Area planted in Germany: in 2007, 54 hectares (mainly in Baden) also in Switzerland

Area planted in England: increasing rapidly

Wine Character - colour: yellow-green / yellow
     - bouquet: fruity, perfumed, hints of banana and hazel-nuts
     - palate: strong, characterful, fruity, ripe; suited to make sweet wine, or blend with more acidic wine.

Time of bud-burst: early (5 to 7 days before the average)

Strength of growth: very strong, grows in all directions so needs a lot of leaf-work in summer
Growth of side-shoots:

Flowering time: early (7 days before the average)
Flowering strength: high to very high

Leaf: - size:
     - shape: large
     - colour: 3 lobed
     - surface undulation: dark green, like fine leather
     - petiolar sinus:

Grape bunch: - size: medium
    - density: loose to medium

Berries: - size: small-medium
     - shape:
     - skin colour: gold

Time of veraison: early (7 days before the average)
Time of harvest: very early

Grape yield: high
Must-weight: very high, can reach 100 °Oeschle
Must-acidity: low to medium

Resistance against:
     - Oidium: very high
     - Peronospora: very high
     - Botrytis: high
     - Roter Brenner:
     - Phomopsis
     - Stem-atrophy: very high
     - Chlorosis:

Preferred soil: needs a good supply of magnesium
Suitable rootstocks: SO4

Normal stem height: 1.3 m
Normal row spacing: 2.5 m
Vine spacing in the row: 1.6 m (good air flow is important)

Wood ripening:
Winter hardiness: very good
Wood colour:

Winter Pruning: has lovely strong shoots at the extremities, but not much to use as replacement canes, so unlikely to be suitable for spur pruning.
Girdling would be beneficial.

Advantages: very early harvest, high ripeness. High yielding, reliable in a poor climate.
The highest resistance to diseases, so should not need any spraying. Nice wine, develops early. An excellent variety for planting in the North of England.

Disadvantages: Very strong growth requiring a lot of summer leaf-work. It is beneficial to cool the fermentation.
It can suffer from botrytis bunch rot near to harvest, so a spray against this (before bunches close up) may be beneficial.

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