category: beverages/drinks: alcoholic beverages: wine: Rebsorten

St. Laurent, Saint Laurent, de.: Saint Laurent, Blauer Saint Laurent, Sankt-Laurenz-Traube, Laurenzitraube, fr.: pinot saint laurent

Saint Laurent is an old French red grape variety. Its exact origin is unknown but it becaume known when the German pharmacist Johann Philipp Bronner imported it to Germany. Its name may have been derived from the village of Saint Laurent in the French area of Médoc. More likely the name relates to the Christian martyr Saint Lawrence, which is the name-giving saint for the German Laurenzitag on 10th August. On the same day Saint Laurent grape reaches veraison, the transition of berry growth to berry ripening.

Saint Laurent grapes are mainly grown in Germany, where it occupies about 0.7 % of the growing area. It is popular in Palatinate and Rhine Hesse. Further growing areas are in Austria and the Czech Republic. The grape variety belongs to the family of Pinot grapes. (See also: Pinot blanc, Pinot bianco, Pinot grigio, Pinot gris, Pinot madelaine, Pinot meunier, Pinot nero, Pinot noir or Pinot noir précoce ).

Wines made from Saint Laurent grapes are typically of medium quality and don't have as much body as a good Pinot noir. Saint Laurent wines show aromas of forest fruits and cherries.