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The Pfälzer "grape variety of the year" is the 2019 Sauvignon Blanc. This was announced by the Pfalzwein e.V. Among the grape varieties that have become native to the Palatinate in recent decades, Sauvignon Blanc is one of the most successful. In 2001, the variety was officially approved in the Palatinate, and by 2009, 224 hectares along the German Wine Route were planted with it. In the meantime, the area under cultivation has more than doubled: the provisional statistics of the Chamber of Agriculture for 2018 show 528 hectares. According to Pfalzwein, the Palatinate is "thus the most important German growing region for the variety with the distinctive aroma". This is the reason for the Pfalzwein advertisement to declare the newcomer for 2019 the "grape variety of the year". This means that Sauvignon Blanc will also be in the spotlight at the largest regional wine presentation, the "Wein am Dom" trade fair in Speyer on 13 and 14 April. Sommeliers will choose the best Sauvignon Blanc of the Palatinate there.
The triumphal procession of the variety in the Palatinate is also proven by the statistics of the quality wine test. According to these statistics, almost 750,000 litres of Sauvignon Blanc were sold by Palatinate wineries in 2009, and just under ten years later, according to Pfalzwein, the figure had risen to more than 3 million litres. More than 500 Palatinate wineries and cooperatives now carry the variety, and well over 90 percent of the wines are produced dry. Among the German wine-growing regions, the Palatinate is "by far the most important" for the variety: Almost 45 percent of all German Sauvignon Blancs come from there.
(uka / Photo: Pfalzwein e.V.)