St. Laurent (grape)

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St. Laurent (synonyms: Saint Laurent, Pinot Saint Laurent, Laurenzitraube) is a highly aromatic dark wine grape of the same family as Pinot Noir, which originates from France.

Spreading

St. Laurent originated around the middle of the 19th century when the German pharmacist and viticulture pioneer Johann Philipp Bronner imported it from France to Germany. From there, the grape variety spread to neighbouring countries; it is still planted quite frequently in Austria. However, the grape variety had become almost extinct however in Germany by the 1950s, with only 27 hectares remaining. With the renaissance of red wine in Germany towards the end of the 20th century, it is now being planted increasingly in the Pfalz and Rheinhessen German wine regions.

Quality

The quality of wine produced from St. Laurent is said to lay between the undemanding Portugieser and the higher-quality but more demanding (from a viticultural point of view) Pinot Noir from which it probably partly descends. Its berries are less thin skinned and thus it is not as suspectible to injuries as Pinot Noir's. It products a medium body wine with aromas of forest berries and black cherries.

Name

The name of the grape variety is possibly due to the fact that the berries typically reach veraizon around, the 10th of August, known as Laurenzitag in German, or "St. Laurent's Day." That the municipality Saint Laurent in the Médoc has something to do with the naming is considered rather improbable.

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