Recovery and improvement, 1650–1800: Vine varieties

In Alsace, improvement owed nothing to the French crown, everything to local initiatives by institutions such as the Jesuit College at Sélestat, which began to plant Riesling in 1756 in place of lesser vines. Alsace saw the development of two new varieties in the 18th century. In 1756, Johann Michael Ortlieb of Riquewihr pioneered an early-ripening clone of räuschling, the Kleiner (small) Räuschling (also known as Ortlieber or, in Alsace, as knipperlé). In 1740, the mayor of Heiligenstein by Barr, Erhard Wantz, introduced a new variety under the name of klevener.