Orléans, actually Orléans Yellow, is curiously named after the French city, although the grape variety originally comes from the vineyards near Rüdesheim in the Rheingau and has never played a role in France. Its origin is unclear, but it was mentioned as early as 1539 under the name Hartheinisch. “Hart” is an allusion to the thick, stable berry skin of Orléans, while “heinisch” refers to the long-established and largely disappeared Heunisch variety. The Orléans vine was mentioned several times under variants of this name in later centuries before the variety then disappeared. It was only Helmut Becker from the Geisenheim Research Institute who rediscovered them on terraces on Rüdesheimer Berg in the 1980s. In cooperation with the Georg Breuer winery, around 7,000 vines were subsequently planted in the Rheingau, and in 2002 it brought its first official vintage, matured in wood, onto the market. A few winemakers, including the well-known Knipser winery in the Palatinate, have been experimenting with this variety ever since. The Orléans does not seem to have managed to cross the borders of Germany (so far).
This grape variety is also known by the name of:
Gelber Orleans, Gros Riesling, Gartengst, Hartheinisch, Hartheinsch, Harthengst, Orleaner, Orleander, Orlänsch, Orlänzsch, Orleans, Orléans vert, Orleanser, Orleanstraube, Orleanzer, Orléans jaune, Wälscger Weiß, Orleans gelb, Weißer Orleaner, Weißer Orleans
