Unusual German Varietals

At the June tasting, many people were curious about the origins of some of the red varietals that we tasted.  After conducting some research, here is what I discovered.

Bläufrankish is a crossing of the Heunisch variety and an unknown varietal.  Heunisch is the name for a variety family that was possibly brought by the Magyars of Hungary to Central Europe.  Over 75 varietals have Heunisch in their family tree including Chardonnay and Riesling.  Bläufrankish is also known as Lemberger in Germany, Kekfrankos in Hungary and Gamé in Bulgaria but don’t confuse Gamé with Gamay of Beaujolais which is an entirely different varietal.

Dornfelder is a cross of Helfensteiner, which is itself a cross of Frühburgunder and Trollinger, and Heroldrebe, which is itself a cross of Blauer Portugieser and Bläufrankish.

             I was unable to find a source that would go out on a limb and give the parentage of the St. Laurent varietal.  The best answer I found comes from Dr. Ferdinand Regner of the Federal Office and College of Wine and Horticulture Klosterneuburg.  Dr. Regner explains, “An origin stemming from a Pinot crossing appears logical and explains the similarities to Pinot Noir.  Despite that, we find no traces of the other parent.  There are genetic attributes that we have not yet found in another grape variety.  If the second parent still exists, it would be easy to identify because it has left very clear traces in St. Laurent.” (www.thewinecellarinsider.com/2011/10/st-laurent-austria%E2%80%99s-rare-red-wine-grape-treasure).