RARE GRAPE VARIETAL RESOURCE

The Blaue Portugieser is an autochthonous vine variety of Lower Austria, which has been cultivated and vinified for more than two hundred and fifty years. This variety produces low-acid, delicate, low-tannin red wines that are ready to drink in a short time. The bunch is medium-sized, has one to three wings, and is full of elongated, medium-sized, blue-black berries with a thin skin. The variety has very vigorous growth and sprouts early. Blue Portugieser is difficult to work with in the vineyard because it is susceptible to botrytis, powdery mildew, downy mildew and black spot. It also tends to be affected by rot and has a low resistance to frost. For a long time, Blaue Portugieser was the typical Austrian red wine of the Heurigen (typical taverns). "Red wine from Retz" was once a synonym for Blauer Portugieser. In the second half of the 18th century, the banker Johann von Fries had red grapes planted in the south of Vienna, where until then almost only white grapes had been grown. In the decades that followed, this vine conquered the Weinviertel region, so much so that Austria’s first sparkling wine made according to the champagne method was also created from Blauer Portugieser grapes, as was the famous red wine ‘Vöslauer Goldeck’, which was exported all over the world in the second half of the 19th century. Blended with Blaufränkisch, Cabernet and Merlot, Blauer Portugieser thus became the basis of the best-known red wine and the first trademarked wine of the Danube Monarchy. Up until 40 years ago, Blaue Portugieser was the most widely cultivated red wine variety in Austria. However, with the emergence of varieties that were easier for the winegrower and a change in consumption habits, it lost its importance. Today, Blaue Portugieser is only cultivated by a few winegrowers in the Retzer Land and the Pulka Valley. The Blaue Portugieser is endangered for a number of reasons: the delicate, thin skin, the closely spaced berries and the susceptibility to disease require great care in the vineyard in the first place. The increasing conversion to organic or biodynamic viticulture has further increased the amount of work in the vineyard. Another factor is the economic pressure that winegrowers are under, because Blauer Portugieser is sold cheaply. The consequence is a constant loss of vineyard area, as winegrowers choose other, more economically productive varieties. The decrease in cultivated area has also led to a dramatic reduction in the genetic diversity of plants, because hardly any clones of Blue Portugieser are propagated in regional nurseries any more. From the consumer’s point of view, the new market trend is towards full-bodied wines with a high alcohol content and aromas of cooked fruit, to the detriment of traditional but delicate, low-tannin wines like this one.

(Courtesy of Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity – Ark of Taste) https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/ark-of-taste-slow-food/blauer-portugieser-grape-variety/

Widespread in Germany

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