What is "crouchen"

Crouchen is a white South African and Australian wine grape variety that originated in the western Pyrenees of France but is now virtually extinct in France due to its high susceptibility to fungal diseases like powdery and downy mildew. The grape is known under a wide variety of synonyms including Clare Riesling and Cape Riesling though it is not related to the well known international variety Riesling. Recent European Union regulation aimed at standardizing wine labelling laws has encouraged wineries to move away from these synonyms but their use still persists.