Discreetly grapey with delicate Muscat aromas, this extremely early ripening grape variety is used primarily for the production of fresh fruit juice (Most) and young wine in full fermentation (Sturm).

Austria, Bad Radkersburg (Steiermark)

Breed from Gelber Muskateller x Weissburgunder

202.87 ha; 0.5%

White wine grape variety


Parentage

Crossing between Gelber Muskateller and Pinot Blanc. This variety was bred by Clotar Bouvier in Bad Radkersburg around 1900.

Vineyard area

Bouvier is found mainly in Burgenland. Between 1999 and 2020, its area under vine decreased noticeably.

A picture shows the grapes of the grape variety Bouvier

Important ampelographic features

© Austrian Wine / Oberleithner

Important ampelographic features

Leaf

medium-sized, circular, five lobes, deeply lobed

Grape cluster

small to medium, medium to loose berry density, cylindrical, often with secondary clusters; berries are round, greenish-yellow in colour and thick-skinned

Growth over the year

© Austrian Wine / Oberleithner

Ripening

Ripening

very early
early
early to middle
middle
middle to late
late
very late

Significance & conditions

Bouvier is marketed mainly as a table grape, as grape must, as Sturm (partially fermented grape must) or as young wine. In Burgenland, its primary growing region, the variety also produces Prädikatswein with a mild character and a delicate note of muscat. This variety’s disadvantage is its unpredictable and low yields.
 

 

 

Area under vine in Austria
(as a proportion of the variety’s total area)

Click on the wine origin in the list for a breakdown into more specific regions of origin.

Total area in Austria:

The Leithaberg and Neusiedlersee wine-growing regions overlap by almost 160 ha (Rieds Hausberg and Neuberg), according to the Austrian Wine Law. This means that the listed area under vine in Burgenland is 160 ha less than the actual total area across all wine-growing regions in Burgenland.

A picture shows a hand holding a glass of white wine.

Characteristics of the wine

© Austrian Wine / Blickwerk Fotografie

Characteristics of the wine

The wines are mild, rich in extract and, depending on where they are grown, display varying intensities of muscat bouquet.

 

 

Source varietal specifications: Höhere Bundeslehranstalt und Bundesamt für Wein- und Obstbau (Federal College and Federal Office for Viticulture, Oenology and Fruit Growing) in Klosterneuburg, “Austria’s Qualitätswein grape varieties and their clones“ („Österreichische Qualitätsweinrebsorten und deren Klone“), 2nd, reviewed edition, September 2015

Source area under vine: Calculation by Austrian Wine based on data from BML/IACS (as at 28 June 2023). Moving annual total (MAT) from June 2022 to June 2023.

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