Irsai Oliver

Irsai Oliver is a Hungarian white variety (VIVC 5557) bred by Pál Kocsis in 1930 from Pozsonyi × Pearl of Csaba (Csabagyöngye); DNA markers confirm the parentage. It is one of the earliest-ripening wine grapes, with large, loose bunches and green-yellow berries of a pronounced muscat aroma, and is grown both as a table grape and for light, aromatic white wines meant to be drunk young. From Hungary it spread across Central and Eastern Europe — Slovakia calls it Muškát Oliver — and into the former Soviet vineyards under the names Irshai Oliver and Zolotisty Ranny. In Moldova KVINT bottles it on its own and in the semi-sweet Summer Motives White with Chardonnay.