🍇 Trollinger

Trollinger is a red grape that the VIVC catalogue lists under its Italian name, Schiava grossa, and considers native to Italy. It has 204 synonyms: Vernatsch in South Tyrol, Black Hamburg in England, Frankenthal in France. The berries are black, and the grape is used both for wine and for the table.

In Germany, according to the German Wine Institute, Trollinger covered 1,791 ha in 2024, or 1.7 % of all the country's vineyards; in 1970 its share was 2.3 %. Almost all of these vines grow in Württemberg, where Trollinger wine is a local classic. In Italy, according to VIVC, the grape covered 3,385 ha in 1990.

In South Tyrol the grape belongs to the Schiava group. Under the Lago di Caldaro DOC rules, wine from the shores of this lake is made from at least 85 % Schiava, and its colour is ruby, from light to medium. The same 85 % Schiava applies to the Santa Maddalena, Colli di Bolzano and Meranese subzones of the Alto Adige appellation.

Trollinger is a parent of several well-known grapes. According to VIVC, DNA analysis confirms that Kerner is Trollinger × Riesling, Helfensteiner is Frühburgunder × Trollinger, and Muscat of Hamburg is Trollinger × Muscat of Alexandria.

Why it matters to you. Trollinger, Vernatsch, Schiava grossa and Black Hamburg on a label are one and the same grape. Schiava gentile and Schiava grigia, however, are different grapes, even though they belong to the same Schiava group. If a grape is named on a bottle of EU wine, it makes up at least 85 % of it. Red wines are served at 15–18 °C.