Completer

Completer is a white wine that is grown in the Bündner Herrschaft , especially in Malans and Fläsch , in what is now the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland . Even though the viticulture in Malans has been documented since 926, the Completer grape variety has only been mentioned by name since 1321. The name of the variety and the wine of the same name derived from it is derived from the evening prayer “Completorium or Completa”, after which the aromatic, full-bodied wine was previously drunk by the monks of the Chur cathedral chapter as a refreshment. Today, in the municipality of Malans, an alcoholic, long-lasting dessert wine with aromas (→ aromas in wine ) of quince and orange blossom is pressed from it. The white wine should be stored for at least 5 years before consumption. Smallest quantities are also cultivated in the cantons of Ticino and Zurich .

origin

The variety was almost extinct in the middle of the 20th century because, with its very distinctive acidity, it no longer corresponded to the common taste of wine drinkers. A stick was selected from old sticks that was regularly characterized by earlier maturity and lower acidity. Most of the Completer vines planted in the last 20 years are likely to have descended from him. It still stands on the wall at the Malanser Halde (the so-called Completerhalde).

The cultivation of this old variety is slowly increasing again. While the total cultivation area in Switzerland was only 2.58 hectares in 2007 , it increased to 4.28 hectares in 2012. The demands on the location are high, as the variety only achieves good results in the warmest locations.

Although only known in Graubünden until 2002, recent studies have shown that the grape variety also grows near Visp in Valais. There they were found in a vineyard together with the Lafnetscha grape variety and the winegrowers erroneously called the Completer Grosser Lafnetscha. This mix-up is not surprising, however, since the Lafnetscha variety was the result of a presumably spontaneous crossing of Completer and Humagne Blanc (see studies by José Vouillamoz ). The same investigation revealed that the variety has its origins in Italy and France, so it probably came to Graubünden with the Walsers.

Completer belongs to a group of grape varieties that have been able to maintain themselves in the geographical island location of the Alpine regions of Italy and the Valais in Switzerland. The following varieties belong to this group:

• Red wine varieties: Bonda , Cornalin d'Aoste , Cornalin du Valais , Crovassa , Durize , Eyholzer , Fumin , Goron de Bovernier , Mayolet , Ner d'Ala , Petit-Rouge , Prëmetta / Prié rouge, Roussin , Roussin de Morgex , Vien de Nus , Vuillermin .
• White wine varieties: Completer, Himbertscha , Humagne Blanche , Lafnetscha , Petite Arvine , Planscher , Prié Blanc , Resi .

Synonyms

Lafnetsela, Malans, Malanserrebe, Malanstraube, Lindauer, R Noiseling Edelweiss, Zürirebe and Zürichseer

ancestry

not known

See also

• Viticulture in Italy
• List of grape varieties

literature

• Pierre Galet : Dictionnaire encyclopédique des cépages. Hachette, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-01-236331-8 .

Web links

• Completer at weinlandschweiz.ch , accessed on July 28, 2018.
• Completer: Grisons veteran. In: Falstaff.ch , March 29, 2018, accessed on July 28, 2018.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Completer - white wine rarity from the Bündner Herrschaft . SRF , January 26, 2016, accessed on July 28, 2018.
2. ↑ The 2007 Wine Year (PDF) , Federal Office for Agriculture FOAG , 2008, accessed on July 28, 2018.
3. ↑ The Wine Year 2012 (PDF) , Federal Office for Agriculture FOAG, 2013, accessed on July 28, 2018.
4. ↑ José F. Vouillamoz, Dominique Maigre, Carole P. Meredith: Identity and parentage of two alpine grape cultivars from Switzerland (Vitis vinifera L. Lafnetscha and Himbertscha). In: Vitis . Vol. 43, No. 2, 2004, pp. 81–87, ( digital version (PDF; 51 kB) ), accessed on October 10, 2015.