Petite Arvine is a white wine grape planted primarily in the Valais

Valais

The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...

 region of Switzerland. Total Swiss plantations of the variety in 2009 stood at 154 hectares (380.5 acre).

Ampelographers believed it to be related to the Swiss grape Amigne

Amigne

Amigne is a white Swiss wine grape planted primarily in the Valais region, with most of the plantations in Vetroz. Total Swiss plantations of the variety in 2009 stood at .The grape can make rich, full bodied wines...

, but DNA typing of Amigne has now cast a doubt on that. Petite Arvine's origin is currently listed as Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

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Petite Arvine has a reputation as a high-class grape variety, and is seen as best "speciality grape" of Valais. Its wines are rich in extract and it is used for dry, semi-sweet and sweet wines.

Synonyms and other 'Arvine' varieties

Petite Arvine is also known under the synonyms Arvine and Arvine Petite.

Arvine Grande is another, much more rare, white Swiss variety. Arvine and Arvine Grande are both also used as synonyms for Silvaner

Silvaner

Sylvaner or Silvaner is a variety of white wine grape grown primarily in Alsace and Germany, where its official name is Grüner Silvaner. In Germany it is best known as a component of Liebfraumilch and production boomed in the 1970s to the detriment of quality, but it has long enjoyed a better...

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