Editing Riesling (section)

==History==
[[File:Kabinet Riesling from Graacher Himmelreich.jpg|left|thumb|A {{Lang|de|Kabinett|italic=no}}-level German Riesling from the Mosel]]
Riesling has a long history, and there are several written references to the variety dating from the 15th century, although with varying [[orthography]].<ref name="Price 16-18">Freddy Price, ''Riesling Renaissance'' Mitchell Beazley 2004, pp. 16-18 {{ISBN|1-84000-777-X}}.</ref> The earliest of these references dates from March 13, 1435, when the storage inventory of [[Johann IV, Count of Katzenelnbogen|Count John IV of Katzenelnbogen]] in [[Rüsselsheim]] (close to the [[Rheingau]]) lists ''"22 ß umb seczreben Rießlingen in die wingarten"'' ("22 shillings for Riesling vine cuttings for the vineyard").<ref>http://www.graf-von-katzenelnbogen.de/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806022301/http://graf-von-katzenelnbogen.de/ |date=2020-08-06 }} The History of the County of Katzenelnbogen and the First Riesling of the World.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070801095915/http://www.winzerfreunde-ruesselsheim.de/05_der_wein/klarschrift.htm Winzerfreunde Rüsselsheim - facsimile and translation of the 1435 document] {{in lang|de}}.</ref><ref>An earlier reference from 1402 in the city of Worms (Germany) that is sometimes quoted is not correct and based on a missinterpretation from the 1960s; see {{cite web |last1=Guthier |first1=Simeon |title=Alte Rebsorten. Forschungsstand, Verbreitung, Neuzüchtungen. |url=https://weingeschichte-rheinhessen.de/d03-alte-rebsorten |website=Weingeschichte in Rheinhessen |publisher=Institute for Regional Studies Mainz |access-date=12 December 2022}}</ref> The spelling ''Rießlingen'' is repeated in many other documents of the time. The modern spelling ''Riesling'' was first documented in 1552 when it was mentioned in [[Hieronymus Bock|Hieronymus Bock's]] Latin [[herbal]].<ref>Oz Clarke, ''The Encyclopedia of Grapes'' Websters International Publishers 2001, p. 192 {{ISBN|0-15-100714-4}}.</ref>

A map of [[Kintzheim]] in [[Alsace]] from 1348 contains the text ''zu dem Russelinge'', but it is not certain that this reference is to the grape variety.<ref name="Price 16-18"/> However, in 1477, Riesling was documented in Alsace under the spelling ''Rissling''.<ref name="Price 90-92">Freddy Price, ''Riesling Renaissance'' Mitchell Beazley 2004, pp. 90-92 {{ISBN|1-84000-777-X}}.</ref> In [[Wachau (wine)|Wachau]] in Austria, there is a small stream and a small vineyard both called ''Ritzling'', which are claimed locally to have given Riesling its name. However, there seems to be no documentary evidence to back this up, so this claim is not widely believed to be correct.<ref name="Price 118">Freddy Price, ''Riesling Renaissance'' Mitchell Beazley 2004, p. 118 {{ISBN|1-84000-777-X}}.</ref>

===Parentage===
Earlier, Riesling was sometimes claimed to have originated from wild vines of the Rhine region, without much support to back up that claim. More recently, [[DNA fingerprinting]] by Ferdinand Regner indicated that one parent of Riesling is [[Gouais blanc]], known to the Germans as ''Weißer Heunisch'', a variety that, while rare today, was widely grown by the French and German peasantry of the Middle Ages. The other parent is a cross between a wild vine and [[Traminer]]. It is presumed that the Riesling was born somewhere in the valley of the Rhine, since both Heunisch and Traminer have a long documented history in Germany, but with parents from either side of the [[Adriatic]] the cross could have happened anywhere on the way.

It has also been suggested, but not proved, that the [[#Red Riesling|red-skinned version]] of Riesling is the forerunner of the common, "white" Riesling.<ref name="WP Roter Riesling">[http://www.wein-plus.eu/en/Roter+Riesling_3.0.8107.html Wein-Plus Glossar: ''Roter Riesling''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818151649/http://www.wein-plus.eu/en/Roter+Riesling_3.0.8107.html |date=2016-08-18 }}, accessed on 13 January 2013.</ref> The genetic differences between white and red Riesling are minuscule, as is also the case between [[Pinot noir]] and [[Pinot gris]].