Pinot Grigio Gm 1-10

Pinot Grigio also known as Pinot Gris / Burgundac Sivi, clone GM 1-10, is a premium, internationally certified clonal selection of the famous wine grape variety Pinot Gris, developed at the prestigious German state institute in Geisenheim. The variety itself originated in the distant past in France, in Burgundy, as a natural, spontaneous bud mutation of Pinot Noir. The elite German clone GM 1-10 was selected primarily to obtain significantly more uniform and stable yields, reduce the variety’s natural sensitivity to flower shatter, and achieve premium concentration of varietal aroma precursors and extract, while guaranteeing healthy, virus-free, certified planting material.

It is a fully self-fertile variety. The flower is morphologically hermaphroditic, properly developed and bisexual, with an exceptionally high level of self-pollination and abundant, viable pollen. This ensures uniform and stable berry set within the cluster, without a tendency toward premature millerandage under standard spring conditions. It flowers early to medium-early.

The vine is low to moderate, or medium, in vigor, with upright, orderly, and moderately strong shoots, which significantly facilitates winter pruning, trellis ventilation, and the rapid performance of canopy management operations such as shoot thinning and shoot topping. It achieves excellent compatibility with different grapevine rootstocks and is perfectly adapted to modern training systems, such as the Guyot trellis or cordon systems. It enters full bearing very early after planting grafted grapevines and produces uniform, stable, and regular yields per vine. It is especially important to emphasize that the lowest, basal buds on the shoot are naturally very weakly productive, which is why this variety requires mandatory long or mixed pruning, leaving canes with 10 to 12 buds along with replacement spurs. Short pruning to spurs is strictly forbidden, as it leads to a complete loss of crop.

It belongs to the group of early wine grape varieties, the first ripening epoch. In our region and under continental climatic conditions, it ripens very early, in the second half of August and at the very beginning of September, ripening almost at the same time as the French variety Chardonnay.

Harvest timing is of decisive and critical oenological importance and, in our conditions, is most often carried out at the end of August. Sugar content and total acidity in the berries must be monitored daily before harvest, because at full maturity this variety loses essential refreshing acids extremely quickly, while sugar levels rise rapidly. The grapes require fast hand harvesting in the early morning hours, followed by urgent transport and processing in the winery under strictly controlled low-temperature protection in order to prevent premature oxidation of the sensitive juice.

It is an absolutely premium wine variety and is not intended for fresh table consumption. The elite German clone GM 1-10 delivers outstanding oenological results: it produces exceptionally elegant, fresh, extractive, creamy, and harmonious white wines, and in modern winemaking it is the number one choice for producing globally popular copper and orange wines through short, controlled maceration of the juice on the gray-pink skin. The wines are characterized by rich, full, and fine varietal aromas dominated by ripe pear, yellow apple, citrus, wildflowers, and honey notes, with excellent potential for cellar aging.

The cluster is small to medium-sized, with an average weight of 80 to 130 g, uniform on the vine, cylindrical-conical in shape, and recognizably very dense and compact; due to the structure of the cluster, it resembles a pine cone, which is the origin of the name Pinot. The berries are small, round to slightly flattened due to strong mutual pressure and compactness within the cluster. The skin is thin and smooth, and at full maturity it has a recognizable gray-pink, coppery to muted purple color, fully covered with an abundant waxy bloom. The flesh is soft, very juicy, melting, and exceptionally sweet, with colorless, clear juice. The taste is rich, refreshing, and recognizably varietal.

It is moderately resistant to fungal diseases. It is susceptible to powdery mildew, Uncinula necator, and downy mildew, so it requires regular preventive chemical protection. Due to its extremely compact clusters and thin berry skin, in humid and rainy autumns before harvest it is highly susceptible to gray mold of the cluster, Botrytis cinerea, which requires mandatory and timely defoliation, or leaf removal, in the fruit zone to ensure perfect ventilation. It shows outstanding natural resistance to low winter frosts and cold, with winter buds tolerating frosts down to -20°C without any damage, making it highly stable and adaptable for cultivation in colder continental regions.

The root system is moderately strong and medium-deep. It gives the best results and achieves premium wine quality on deep, permeable, warm, calcareous, marly, and moderately moist soils on slightly elevated, sloping, and sunny hillside sites, while it absolutely does not tolerate heavy, compacted, cold, marshy, or waterlogged lowland soils.

Our grafted grapevine plants are produced on highly compatible, certified rootstocks: Kober 5BB, Berlandieri x Riparia Kober 5BB, and SO4. These rootstocks ensure a perfect and long-lasting anatomical graft union with Pinot Gris, ideally control its growth, and provide outstanding adaptability to skeletal and calcareous terrains with a high content of active lime in the soil.