Optima, also called Optima 113 is a 1970 german cross, of a Silvaner×Riesling with Müller-Thurgau. It ripens very early indeed, sometimes more than ten days before Müller-Thurgau, and can notch up impressive ripeness readings, even if the wines themselves are flabby and undistinguished. It will grow on some of the poorest of sites and has been regarded as a useful but ignoble blending ingredient. Its late budding makes it popular in the Mosel and it is also grown in Rheinhessen. Germany’s plantings of Optima reached a peak of 420 ha/1,037 acres in 1990 but had declined, unlamented, to 45 ha by 2012.
