![Helios variety](/images/art_images/0108_0109.jpg)
Helios variety
Helios, the name of the sun god in ancient Greece. The grape variety that bears this divine name has nothing to do with Greece, nothing to do with gods apart from the name, at most something to do with the sun. It is a new development from Germany.
![No mystery: The Cuvée.](/images/art_images/0100_0101.jpg)
What is actually a Cuvée?
The term cuvée is used very differently internationally in different regions, which can lead to some confusion. The word cuvée is derived from the French cuve and means vat, fermenter or tank.
![Pinotin Rebe](/images/art_images/0094_0095.jpg)
Pinotin
Pinotin was bred in 1991 by the breeder and vineyard owner Valentin Blattner from Soyhières in the Swiss canton of Jura. It was selected at the Freytag vine breeding centre in the municipality of Neustadt/Lachen-Speyerdorf in the Pfalz.
![Souvignier Gris](/images/art_images/0088_0089.jpg)
Souvignier Gris
The Souvignier gris grape variety (pronunciation: Suvinje grie) was bred in 1983 by Norbert Becker (1937 - 2012) at the State Viticultural Institute in Freiburg i. Br. Please do not confuse it with Sauvignon, even if an English tongue can get confused when pronouncing it.
![Grauburgunder](/images/art_images/0084_0085.jpg)
Grauburgunder
The names for Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris) can vary. In the past, this white wine was often referred to as Ruländer and even today there are wine regions with this synonym for Grauburgunder. In French it is called Pinot Gris and the Italians say Pinot Grigio. Or its name is Szürkebarát.
![Traminer](/images/art_images/0078_0079.jpg)
Gewürztraminer
Gewürztraminer is the best-known variant of the Traminer grape variety. The name Gewürztraminer is derived from the word "spiced" (in German Language "gewürzt"). This refers to the flavour of the wines. On the other hand, it is derived from the place name Tramin in South Tyrol. Although Gewürztraminer enjoys great popularity there, it has since been disproved that it originated there. The exact origin is still uncertain. However, the winegrowers in and around Tramin see it quite differently. Who can blame them?
![View over Chardonnay](/images/art_images/0070_0071.jpg)
... petit village tranquille qui s'appelle Chardonnay
"Dans le Haut-Mâconnais, la grande région située entre le Chalonnais et le Beaujolais, se trouve un vieux petit village tranquille qui s'appelle Chardonnay."
That's how the locals put it. In proper English Language: In the High-Mâconnais, the large region between Chalonnais and Beaujolais, lies a tranquil, old village called Chardonnay.
![Must scale, brass, beech wood, 19th century, Speyer Historical Museum](/images/art_images/0051_0052.jpg)
2024 - 250 years Ferdinand Oechsle
Christian Ferdinand Oechsle was born in Buhlbach in 1774, the 250th anniversary of his birth is in 2024. He is the inventor of the Oechsle scale.
![You are so sweet](/images/art_images/0047_0048.jpg)
You are so sweet
Residual sugar refers to the sugars left unfermented in a finished wine. It is measured by grams of sugar per litre (g/l). But how sugar morphs from grapes in the vineyard to the delicious glass of wine in your hand?
![Vacuum for Winebottles](/images/art_images/0045_0046.jpg)
A tip from the winemaker
Basically, we serve all our wines open; the one or other bottle then stands around for a while with the cork pushed back in or screwed shut again. There's fresh air in the bottle. That's not good.
![Cabernet Cortis - mature leaf](/images/art_images/0041_0042.jpg)
Cabernet Cortis
Cabernet Cortis is a blue PIWI (fungus-resistant) variety and a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Solaris, which was created in 1982 at the State Viticulture Institute in Freiburg.
![Scheurebe](/images/art_images/0037_0038.jpg)
Scheurebe
The white Scheurebe was bred in 1916 by Dr Georg Scheu in Alzey/Rhine Hesse. He himself assumed that it was a cross between Riesling and Silvaner.