Wine Arcana

Grape

Olaszrizling

Also known as Welschriesling, Graševina, Riesling Italico

Olaszrizling is a white grape with several Central European identities: Welschriesling in Austria, Graševina in Croatia, and Riesling Italico in Italy. It is distinct from Riesling. Its importance is particularly clear around Hungary's Lake Balaton, where it connects everyday drinking with wines identified by village and vineyard.

Balaton and changing expectations

Sue Tolson's 2025 account for Wines of Hungary describes a broad range of contemporary styles, from light whites and sparkling wines to skin-contact and sweet examples. The familiar fröccs, wine diluted with sparkling water, remains part of its cultural setting. Alongside this everyday role, growers have developed more explicitly place-based wines. The Csopak Codex initiative, started in 2012, is one expression of that work.1. Sue Tolson, “Olaszrizling sparkles with a variety of styles,” Wines of Hungary, 14 May 2025.

These uses place different demands on the fruit. A refreshing base for a spritzer benefits from acidity and a direct flavour; a fuller vineyard bottling gives more attention to concentration and texture. Neither use requires the grape to imitate Riesling.

A producer's range

Jásdi in Csopak describes Olaszrizling as its principal variety and discusses both light, acidic wines and richer late-harvest or botrytized examples. The estate also blends it with Furmint in Ranolder White. This gives a concrete view of the grape's flexibility within one locality: harvest condition, crop management, and blending change its role.

Its many regional names can obscure this connection across borders. Reading the place and producer alongside the synonym is especially useful when comparing a Hungarian dry white with an Austrian sweet wine or a Croatian Graševina.

Sources