What’s in a name? The best white grape no one has ever heard of hides its light under a confusing number of names. It’s called Olaszrizling in Hungary; Graševina in Croatia; Riesling Italian or just Riesling in Romania; Riesling Italico in Italy; Welschriesling in Austria; Rizling Italijanski (or Grašac/Grašac Beli for better versions) in Serbia; Laški Rizling in Slovenia; Rizling Vlašský in Slovakia; and Ryzlink Vlašský in the Czech Republic.
There is no consensus on a main name. The useful Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) database has settled on the Germanic Welschriesling, while the iconic book Wine Grapes chose Graševina. Serbia has recently discovered strong evidence for claiming Grašac as the most historic name. And, in an effort to acknowledge the grape’s complex history and its need for a stronger identity, a new initiative is proposing an entirely different name: GROW.
Names that include Riesling or Rizling require an immediate explanation that the grape is totally unrelated to the great German variety, framing it as a nonrelative before highlighting its merits. The names Grašac, Graševina, and Grašica are most likely derived from the noun grašak (pea), a reference to the grape’s small, round greenish berries. After World War II, across the former Yugoslavia, the common name became Italian Riesling and close variations, though Croatia resisted and kept Graševina (a name given by the revivalist linguist Bogoslav Šulek in the 19th century). In the second half of the 20th century in most of southeastern Europe, beverages with Riesling in their names were basically synonymous with cheap industrial wine-like liquids made to be mixed with sparkling water, possibly an attempt to capitalize on the reputation of true Riesling. Several of the grape’s names suggest a possible Italian connection. Welsch is from Walachian or Vlach, archaic terms for Romance-speaking southeastern populations; in Slovenia, laški defines the variety as foreign, of Roman origin, and lah is a derogatory term for an Italian; and in Hungarian, olasz means “Italian.”
For decades, this variety was maligned as ordinary quality, and it is true that it was the grape for everyday wine for people across Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. This is changing slowly, perhaps best exemplified in a Top 50 Best in Show award for a Serbian Grašac wine at the Decanter World Wine Awards in 2023. Finally, the grape seems poised to receive the recognition it deserves.
Even with recent research into grapevine genetics, the origin of this grape remains a mystery. In 2020, an Italian team (Raimondi et al.) announced the discovery of one parent, an almost-extinct Italian variety called Coccalona Nera (or Orsolina), once widespread across central northern Italy and a parent of Barbera. Apparently, it was considered “disgusting, a wine ruin and worthy of elimination from cultivation,” which hints at why it might have been crossed to find better grapes. The paper continues, “An origin from the southern side of the Alps could be inferred for Coccalona’s progeny Riesling Italico, called Welschriesling in Germany and Austria. The absence of its second parent prevents us from establishing if its cradle was central Europe or northwestern Italy.” Many believe, however, that the Balkans may be its true place of origin, because, while Coccalona Nera has never been found in the Balkans, France, or Austria, Riesling Italico wasn’t reported in Italy until the mid-19th century. All of this counters past theories of the grape’s origin in Champagne, Spain, or Germany.
Whether it first appeared in Italy or not hardly matters, because the grape has been adopted across Central and Eastern Europe. It grows in Italy, especially around Oltrepò Pavese, in Lombardy, but its heartland is along the Danube River and its basin, and it is important in areas that were under Austro-Hungarian rule.
One of the most exciting recent stories in viticultural research is the discovery of a long-forgotten herbarium in a school in Sremski Karlovci, in Serbia. A young researcher, Milica Rat, discovered dusty boxes in a cupboard that hadn’t been touched since the 1950s. She was amazed to find 122 sheets recording 55 Vitis vinifera varieties, collected from Fruška Gora between 1812 and 1824, making this the second oldest grapevine collection in the world (and the only one with preserved grape material). Seventy-five of the sheets still retain pressed samples of grapevine leaves and dried fruit with seeds. The seeds are especially significant, as they are the best source for DNA to match against present-day varieties. Some of the samples are so well preserved that it’s possible to check for the presence of fine hairs and to analyze soil particles to identify the soil type. Leaf-infecting fungi have also been spotted, so researchers are trying to identify these.
This collection includes the first written mention of the grape variety, under the name Grašac (then spelled as Graschaz). Around the same time, in 1816, Prokopije Bolić, a bishop at the Rakovac monastery, published Soveršen Vinodelac (The Perfect Winemaker). The book contains detailed descriptions of varieties widespread in Fruška Gora at that time, including Grašac, and his description matches modern ampelographic descriptions of the leaves and fruit.
Despite the presence of the name Riesling in some of its names, Welschriesling yields wines that are stylistically very different from Riesling. Some research shows an overlap with typical flavors found in Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris, though at lower levels than in these more aromatic grapes. A 2023 research paper (Tomašević et al.) found three thiols to be important: 4-MSP, 3-SH, and 3-SHA. These provide grapefruit, passion fruit, citrus zest, and boxwood aromas, though again at lower concentrations than in Sauvignon Blanc. Another paper found varietal thiols typical of Chardonnay appearing above the perception threshold. Further research (such as Martelanc et al., 2024) identified regional differences among the aromatic profiles of the wines analyzed, evaluating norisoprenoids and monoterpenes, such as alpha-terpinene, gamma-terpinene, and 4-terpineol, which yield pine, citrus, lemon, and lime notes; and 1,4-cineole, which offers herbaceous characters. There is clearly still much to be discovered, but these papers suggest that this is a grape capable of expressing terroir differences—a key feature of a great variety.
In the glass, the wines can be light and fruity, with bright acidity and notes of lemon, grapefruit, green apple, and white flowers, and a slight almond bitterness. Wines from cooler areas often demonstrate an herbal note, and a mineral or wet stone quality can be present. In aged or later-picked versions, the wines evolve toward ripe apple, poached pear, lemon zest, pineapple, quince, and sometimes honey and marzipan. The grape used to be notorious for its neutrality, but today producers are exploring its incredible versatility. It is proving capable of excellent wines in styles from light and crisp to layered and complex, with successful skin-contact versions as well. There are also occasional sparkling wines, and sweet versions (both botrytis and ice wines) can be superb.
The grape is treated as significant in Croatia, Hungary, and Serbia, with winemakers working to rebuild its reputation as a flagship variety. The world’s biggest grower is Romania, with 6,664 hectares (16,467 acres) of Riesling Italian in 2025, but it receives little respect and usually is simply labeled Riesling or included in anonymous blends. It can excite quality, however, demonstrated by a rare 2019 varietal example from the top producer Davino. Other producers have experimented with pét-nat versions, and Vinarte makes a good botrytis sweet wine.
In Slovenia, Laški Rizling is slowly returning after a long period of being considered a low-quality wine by consumers (some might remember drinking a nondescript medium-sweet white in the 1980s called Lutomer Laški Rizling, once a top-selling brand in the UK). Laški Rizling is widely planted in the continental east of the country (Štajerska Slovenija PDO and Prekmurje PDO), but there are also plantings in the Vipava Valley. Because it’s late ripening, with good acidity, it is proving resilient against climate change and relatively resistant to disease in rainy years.
Here, there is a movement to rename the grape Grašica to overcome negative perceptions of Laški Rizling. A book from 1870, Slovenian Štajer: Land and People, by Ivan Geršak, described the grape under three names: Rivček, Riesling, and Grašica. Unfortunately, Grašica is not yet a permitted synonym under Slovenian law, but the high-profile Burja Estate has started to use it.
Olaszrizling is the second most important high-quality white grape in Hungary, following Tokaj’s great white grape, Furmint. Hungary is likely the third biggest grower of the grape in the world, vying with China. Olaszrizling is grown in 21 of Hungary’s 22 wine regions (all except Tokaj), but its spiritual homeland is the northern shores of Lake Balaton, where it is the most important variety. Much of Hungary is underlaid by the remnants of ancient volcanoes and volcanic soils, which give a fieriness and mineral backbone to the wines, but the extinct basalt volcanoes of northern Balaton (especially the dramatic Káli basin, Szent György-hegy, Badacsony PDO, and the red soils around Balatonfüred-Csopak PDO) seem particularly suited to Olaszrizling. Recently, there has been a trend toward single-vineyard selections and wines highlighting specific terroirs, notably in the Balaton region, where producers have established a ladder of quality from the simplest, fruity Balaton-Bor to mountain (hegy) and single-vineyard (dűlő) wines.
Hungarians are fiercely proud of Olaszrizling, and it’s what they prefer to drink—not the dry Furmint discovered by the rest of the world. It’s fair to say that Olaszrizling was popular in the past because of its very generous yields, at a time when volume ruled. This continued into the new, privatized era, when Olaszrizling became the everyday choice for easy-to-drink wines in liter-sized bottles. It’s also regarded as the best grape for making spritzers, wine mixed with soda water. The Hungarian name is fröccs, first recorded in writing as early as 1842.
In Croatia, Graševina is the most planted grape, almost all of it inland in Slavonia and Croatian Danube and the Croatian Uplands. Producers around the Golden Valley region of Slavonia have been at the forefront of raising its image and quality, led by the legendary winemaker Vlado Krauthaker, who arrived in this region in 1979. Krauthaker admits that it was hard to convince locals of the potential for quality Graševina, but he was a pioneer of single-vineyard selections, notably Mitrovac, which has 40-year-old vines, as well as silky ice wines.
After phylloxera, this region became focused on big yields produced by the state cellars at Kutjevo, as Graševina is easy to grow and vinify. Today, the privatized Kutjevo Winery may be the biggest grower of Graševina anywhere, with 420 hectares (1,040 acres) of its own vineyards and another 400 hectares (980 acres) under cooperation. Graševina composes 85% of Kutjevo’s production, with an archive of aged wines dating back to 1948.
Serbia is another country where Grašac is the most planted grape, though accurate data is hard to find. It is particularly significant on the slopes of Fruška Gora, but it is planted all over the country. The historic name of Grašac has been adopted by quality producers to break with the grape’s past poor reputation as Rizling Italijanski sold in liter-sized bottles for everyday drinking.
The wine awarded a Top 50 Best in Show from the Decanter World Wine Awards was the 2020 Vinčić Grašac, sourced from an unprepossessing vineyard of 50-year-old vines in Fruška Gora (so close to Croatia’s noted Graševina region on Principovac Hills that mobile phones pick up Croatian networks). The vineyard doesn’t meet any of the normal expectations for a site delivering such high-quality fruit—a flat vineyard with poor topsoil over deep clay, and quite a few missing vines—but it’s also late ripening and was planted before clonal selection. Saša Vinčić, the vineyard owner, has taken cuttings and is raising new vines in pots to fill the gaps in the vineyard and to plant more of this old Grašac when he pulls out the nectarine trees on the neighboring plot. There’s a track record of ageability for wines from this site: the 2012 under the previous Vista Hills brand was still excellent in 2024.
It is not only Vinčić making standout wines. There are several excellent producers of Grašac on Fruška Gora, including Erdevik, Frug, Trivanović, Imperator, Šijački, Veritas, Verkat, Fruškogorski Vinogradi, and Vinum.
In Italy, Riesling Italico covers a relatively small surface area, concentrated mainly in Lombardy’s Oltrepò Pavese and in some hilly areas of Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and Trentino-Alto Adige. The most recent estimates indicate about 1,200 to 1,300 hectares (2,970 to 3,200 acres), with 95% in Oltrepò Pavese, down from more than 2,300 hectares (5,680 acres) in the early 1990s. The decline has been steady for decades, yet in some areas, particularly in Oltrepò Pavese, there are signs of renewed attention. The grape’s versatility is suited for producing lightly sparkling or fully sparkling wines, especially in hilly sites with dry climates, which offer better acidity and aromatic intensity. One obstacle to its recognition is the lack of clear communication in differentiating Riesling Italico from Riesling.
Welschriesling is the third most planted grape in Austria, far behind the leading Grüner Veltliner, and its area under vine has decreased significantly. It’s often used for simpler, easy-drinking wines or as the base for Sekt. But the nobly sweet Trockenbeerenauslese wines in Burgenland, particularly from around the Seewinkel area and Lake Neusiedl, are considered some of the world’s greatest sweet wines.
In Slovakia, Rizling Vlašský is the second most planted grape variety (covering 16% of vineyard area) and found in all regions. It ripens late in this cool continental climate and has very good frost resistance. Wines show naturally higher acidity that can be reflected in a steely character and are often produced with residual sugar at various levels; sparkling wines are also made.
In the Czech Republic, Ryzlink Vlašský covers 8.5% of the vineyard area. It is successful in Moravia, particularly around Mikulov, but many producers don’t regard it as their top grape.
Farther afield, Welschriesling has been grown for over a century in Brazil, where it is used mostly for sparkling wine. China is perhaps the big surprise as one of the world’s largest growers, with Welschriesling second only to Chardonnay among white grapes. China’s history of cultivating Welschriesling dates to 1892, when the Chinese industrialist Zhang Bishi founded the Changyu Wine Company, in Yantai, and invited Baron M. von Babo, a consul of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to serve as winemaker. On Babo’s advice, Zhang Bishi introduced over 100 wine grape varieties to China, including Welschriesling (in Chinese, the name is 贵人香, literally “noble fragrance”).
Chinese Welschriesling comes in a range of styles, from dry to off-dry to sweet. The off-dry style is particularly popular among Chinese consumers. Welschriesling is grown widely, including in vineyards in Hebei, Ningxia, Qingdao, Gansu, and Xinjiang.
A trio of wine friends—Igor Luković from Serbia, Saša Špiranec from Croatia, and Zoltán Győrffy from Hungary—originated a clever solution to the grape’s identity problem a few years ago. They christened the grape GROW to encompass some of its main names (Graševina/Grašac, Olaszrizling, and Welschriesling) and founded a competition called GROW du Monde to raise its profile and showcase the potential for high quality that it has in the right hands.
The challenge is that people are incredibly loyal to their local names. The Serbian winemaker Ivana Šijački Majorosi, however, was compelled by the name and has bottled a wine from a new vineyard as GROW. She says, “I wanted to support the GROW movement and also to put us in the race. We haven’t changed the name on our basic label from Italijanski Rizling to Grašac—I promised my brother I wouldn’t, in memory of our father. We have successfully sold it for decades under that label. And the market and the public ignored us when everyone started using the Grašac synonym.” But, she explains, when she had the opportunity to bottle a wine from a new vineyard, “I decided to make a completely different label to highlight that it is made from this grape variety, which has so many synonyms but is very important for all of us. A lot of people still do not know that all these synonyms stand for the same grape variety.” Šijački adds that she can sell this wine for a 50% higher price than the basic label, and it has been well received by new and younger customers.
A unified identity for GROW should ultimately be worth the effort required to encourage adoption of a new name. The grape is incredibly versatile, producing quality across many styles. It has shown its potential for being regarded as a great grape: it makes excellent wines, and it can showcase and transmit a sense of place. GROW is emerging from its turbulent past, but it remains lost behind a complex identity crisis. It’s time for that to change.
Martelanc, Mitja, Guillaume Antalick, Tatjana Radovanović Vukajlović, et al. “Aromatic Characterization of Graševina Wines from Slavonia and Podunavlje Sub-Regions.” Beverages 10, no. 2 (2024): 24. https://doi.org/10.3390/beverages10020024.
Raimondi, Stefano, Giorgio Tumino, Paola Ruffa, et al. “DNA-Based Genealogy Reconstruction of Nebbiolo, Barbera and Other Ancient Grapevine Cultivars from Northwestern Italy.” Scientific Reports 10, no. 15782 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-72799-6.
Robinson, Jancis, Julia Harding, and José Vouillamoz. Wine Grapes: A Complete Guide to 1,368 Vine Varieties, Including Their Origins and Flavours. Allen Lane, 2012.
Tomašević, Marina, Katarina Lukić, Natka Ćurko, et al. “The Influence of Grape Clone and Yeast Strain on Varietal Thiol Concentrations and Sensory Properties of Graševina Wines.” Foods 12, no. 5 (2023): 985. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12050985.
Vinopedia. “Graševina.” Accessed January 6, 2026. https://vinopedia.hr/grasevina-2/.
Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC). Accessed January 6, 2026. https://www.vivc.de.
Caroline: Very good and well researched article. Thank you!!!