Ruländer is the more traditional German name for pinot gris, which was propagated in the Rheinpfalz in the early years of the 18th century by wine merchant Johann Seger Ruland. Since the mid 1980s, the name has been reserved for sweeter—and increasingly unfashionable—styles of Pinot Gris, while the increasingly common dry wines are labelled grauburgunder.
The name Ruländer is also used in Austria and for some of the Pinot Gris that is widely planted in romania.
