Bouvier is a white wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

 grape and table grape

Table grape

Table grapes are grapes intended for consumption while they are fresh, as opposed to grapes grown for wine production, juice production, or for drying into raisins....

 planted primarily in Central Europe

Central Europe

Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...

-most notably Austria, Hungary, Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

 and Slovenia where it is also known as Ranina.

In Austria, where it is grown on 365 hectares (901.9 acre), Bouvier is primarily used for Sturm (seasonally produced semi-fermented grape must) and young-bottled wines.

Bouvier ripens very early, is resistant to frost, and gives a rather low yield

Yield (wine)

In viticulture, the yield is a measure of the amount of grapes or wine that is produced per unit surface of vineyard, and is therefore a type of crop yield...

. Its wines are golden yellow, mild in taste and have a Muscat aroma.

History and pedigree

Winery owner Clotar Bouvier (1853-1930) discovered a vine of this variety in his vineyard in Herzogburg, Ober-Radkersburg (in today's Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

) in the year 1900. He used this vine as a basis for breeding, and after several years of selection started to sell it, after which it became widely spread over Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

. DNA profiling has revealed Bouvier to be a crossing (probably a natural one) of a Pinot

Pinot

-Grape varieties:* One of several grape varieties and associated wines** Pinot blanc ** Pinot gris ** Pinot meunier** Pinot noir...

 variety (which could be Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir

Pinot noir is a black wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes...

, Pinot Gris

Pinot Gris

Pinot gris is a white wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. Thought to be a mutant clone of the Pinot noir grape, it normally has a grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name but the grape can have a brownish pink to black and even white appearance...

 or Pinot Blanc

Pinot Blanc

Pinot blanc is a white wine grape. It is a point genetic mutation of Pinot noir. Pinot noir is genetically unstable and will occasionally experience a point mutation in which a vine bears all black fruit except for one cane which produced white fruit....

) and another, unidentified variety.

Synonyms

Bouvier is also known under the synonyms Bela Ranina, Bela Ranka, Boouvierovo Grozno, Bouvier Précoce, Bouvier Trante Weisse, Bouvier Traube Weisse, Bouvierovo Grozno, Bouvierovo Hrozno, Bouvierovo Ranina, Bouvierrebe, Bouviertraube, Bouviertraube Weisse, Bouvieruv Hrozen, Bouvijejeva Ranka, Bovije, Buveleova Ranka, Buvie, Buvierov Hrozen, Buvije, Buvijeova Ranina, Buvijeova Ranka, Buvijeva Ranka, Buvileova Ranka, Chasselas Bouvier, Findling, Kimmig Kp 1, Précoce de Bouvier, Précoce de Bouvier Bianco, Précoce de Bouvier Blanc, Précoce di Bouvier Bianco, Radgonska, Ranina, Ragdonska Ranina Bela, Ranina, Ranina Bela, Ranka, Sasla Buvije.