A new grape has been born in Switzerland, developed by the research institute Agroscope Changins. The Swiss are good at developing environmentally friendly grapes and this new grape, called Divico, has good resistance to both grey rot, mildiou and oidium. The grape is a cross between two grapes: gamaret and the hybrid bronner. With Divico [...]
Tag Archives | grapes
Can many different varieties in the vineyard prevent diseases?
A winemaker in Languedoc, Jeff Coutelou at Mas Coutelou, has his own recipe to avoid diseases in the vineyard. He has a lot of different varieties planted in the same vineyard. It protects the vines from viruses, he says, and makes them less susceptible to other diseases. Read about Jeff Coutelou on Drinks Business. In [...]
French pinotage?
Last year, in 2012, seven new grape varieties were approved for wine production in France. Five of these were foreign varieties that are considered of interest either for the production of French wines or for plant nurseries to grow for export. The five “foreign” varieties were nebbiolo, nero d’avola, pinotage, touriga nacional and saperavi, a [...]
4 new grape varieties: gaminot, beaugaray, picarlat and granita
Four new varieties have been born in France. And it’s really four brand new varieties. With names we have never heard of: gaminot, beaugaray, picarlat and granita. These are crossings that have been made at the request of winegrowers in the Beaujolais and Mâcon. The requests were made in the 1970s, but, as we all [...]
Rules for labelling in France
On May 6, new rules were published for the labeling of wines in France. The rules come into force on 1st of July. The ministries involved, writes La Vigne, have taken quite some time to get the rules published but actually they are more or less already in use. The 6th of May publication was [...]
Experimental planting of new vines with resistance to mildew allowed in Languedoc
The producers of the Languedoc has now received its long-awaited permission from the Ministry of Agriculture to start growing, on an experimental basis, new grape varieties that are developed to be resistant against powdery mildew and downy mildew, we read in La Vigne. Not having to treat the vineyards against these two problems is of [...]
Perhaps not quite the world’s best syrah but no doubt good wines
Syrah du Monde is a wine competition for wines made from the syrah grapes. No prize for guessing. As with all competitions, you can only win if you decide to take part in the competition so one should perhaps not take the part of “World’s Best” too literally. On the other hand, the wines that [...]
Primitive French zinfandel?
According to Vitisphere the French CTPS (Comité Technique Permanent de la Sélection) recently published a new list of permitted grapes varieties in France. New on that list is Primitivo, the star grape of Apulia in southern Italy. It is being recommended for Languedoc-Roussillon which seems reasonable. A few years ago they approved the Spanish Tempranillo. [...]
Chile expands vineyard area with 6.5%
According to the latest statistics vineyard acreage grew with 6.5% in Chile in 2009. They now have 111 52 ha planted with vines to produce wine. 73% of the vineyards are planted with red grapes and 27% are planted with white grapes. these are the main grape varieties: Cabernet sauvignon, 40 728 ha Chardonnay 13 [...]
New Zealand’s most popular grape varieties
New Zealand is very well know for its internationally very successful sauvignon blanc wines, sauvignons that are very aromatic to the point of sometimes being overpowering. The focus on sauvignon has perhaps been so strong that other grape varieties have suffered behind it but there seems to be a trend today towards “rediscovery” of other [...]
The world’s best syrah wines
It is, of course, not necessarily the world’s best syrah wines. Just like in any competition you can only win if you participate, and in “The World’s Best Syrah Wines” many of the most famous syrah wines were absent. But it is still interesting to see who the winners are. It shows a surprising diversity [...]
Germany’s most grown grapes
In our last Brief we wrote about the most popular grape varieties grown in Germany. The figures came from a print magazine but after looking at them a little more closely we thought they looked a bit peculiar (as did some of our readers!). So we checked instead the statistics from Deutsche Weininstitut: These figures [...]
Germany’s most popular white grapes
Here is the list of the most popular white wine grape varieties in Germany, counted in volume: – Muller thurgau, 14% – Riesling, 13% – Gruner veltliner, 7% – Chardonnay, 5% – Pinot gris (rulander), 4% – Silvaner, 4% – Other, 53% White wine still dominates production but merlot is actually the second most used [...]
Most planted grape varieties in Austria
According to Austrian Wines / Statistik Austria, Vineyard Survey 2009 these are the most planted grape varieties in Austria. Whites first: Grüner Veltliner 29% (+) Welschriesling 8% (-) Müller Thurgau 5% (-) Weißburgunder 4% (?) Riesling 4% (=) Chardonnay 3% (?) Sauvignon Blanc 2% (++) Gemischter Satz 2% (-) Neuburger 1% (-) Muskateller 1% (++) [...]
South Africa’s grape varieties: chenin blanc still in the lead
Chenin blanc is not so often called steen, as it used to be, but it is still South Africa’s most grown grape variety, albeit decreasing. Quite a lot of it goes to making the very respectable, sometimes excellent, South African brandy. Pinotage, the exclusivity of south African vineyards, often considered an emblem of SA grape [...]
The world’s best gamay
Gamay is the latest grape variety to get its own ”world’s best” competition. The ”Concours International du Gamay” (the gamay world championship) will take place on January 15, 2011 in Lyons. Unsurprisingly it is organised by Inter Beaujolais, the Beaujolais growers’ association. We hope that it can be a tool to spread the word that [...]
The Great Grenache Day: September 24
September 24 has been named as the First Annual International Grenache Day (FAIGD?). It has been created to celebrate “the great grenache grape”, indeed one of the great grapes of the south and not very well-known by the general public. There will be promotions, events, tastings etc on the day. Why not organise a grenache [...]
So, how many grape varieties ARE there in Châteauneuf-du-Pape?
In the last Brief we noted that it is really not a big issue if you don’t remember all the 13 permitted grape varieties in Châteauneuf. Or is it 15? Well, it all depends on how you count, we said. A reader with a penchant for details (thank you Tomas!) has pointed out that in [...]
Can you count to Châteauneuf-du-Pape?
Châteauneuf-du-Pape has over the last decade or two seen a tremendous development both in terms of popularity and more importantly in terms of quality of the wines (hopefully the two aspects are linked). It has also been named “Wine Village of the Year” by the Swedish wine tasting club Munskänkarna (with 20,000 members!). Some of [...]
Malbec consumption up 60%
According to statistics from Nielsen in the USA sales of malbec wines (made from the grape variety malbec) have increased with 60% over the last year (Jan 09 to Jan 10). The stats show that it is the grape variety that has grown the most over the period. However, it is still far from being [...]
Promote local grape varieties (2)! The Wine Century Club
There’s actually a club for people who have tasted more than one hundred grape varieties: the Wine Century Club. To become member you have to have tasted at least 100 varieties. And if you have been seriously bit by the wine bug (the wine louse?) you can even become double, triple, or quadruple member. The [...]
Grape varieties in South Africa, and sparkling wine
Not just football There’s a lot of talk about South Africa these days (but less and less in some countries perhaps…) with the World Cup in full spin. But disregarding if we’re watching football or not, South African wines are becoming more and more popular. In Sweden, for example, it is the biggest supplier of [...]
Promote local grape varieties (1)! Autochtona 2010
As in most old wine producing countries there is in Italy a wealth of grape traditional varieties. Unfortunately they are often overshadowed by the “international” or even Italian grape varieties that have reach international fame (say, sangiovese or nebbiolo). In October there will be a wine fair only for these lesser known grape varieties: Autochtona [...]
South Africa, part 7 (the last part): Other grape varieties – there is more!
There is a lot of different grape varieties in the South African vineyards. At Anura, for example, you can taste wines made from viognier, grenache and petit verdot. In their Viognier Barrel Selection 2006 there is a mix of spiciness and smokiness together with some honey. Dry, full-bodied and very nice. Grenache Signature 2007 (ZAR [...]
South Africa, part 5: Cabernet sauvignon and Bordeaux blends
Cabernet sauvignon is the red grape with the biggest plantings in South Africa, followed by its Bordelais cousin the merlot. Cabernet can make excellent wines on its own but more and more wineries have discovered that it can make even more interesting wines if you blend it with some other (Bordeaux) grapes. At the Dalla [...]
South Africa, part 4: Pinotage
So, what’s the status of pinotage, South Africa’s very own grape? It’s a cross between pinot noire and cinsault, made some hundred years ago. These days it covers only 5% of the total vineyard area, a slight increase since 1998. The winemakers seem to agree. It is a difficult grape variety! Wynand Grobler at Rickety [...]
South Africa, part 3: Sauvignon blanc
Chenin blanc is not the only white grape that gives good results in South Africa. A short drive south from Cape Town you arrive in the Constantia district. Here it is sauvignon blanc (pronounced [blanK] with a hard at the end) that is the big white grape variety. “We’re just five kilometres from the sea”, [...]
South Africa, part 2: Chenin blanc
South Africa makes a lot of white wines. It is traditionally a big brandy producer (more about that at another occasion), so white varieties have always been widely planted. The premier brandy grape is the chenin blanc, previously called steen here in SA. “Chenin blanc is easy to grow in South Africa”, explains Teddy Hall [...]
South Africa, part 1: Not just football
There’s a lot of talk about South Africa these days (but less and less in some countries perhaps…) with the World Cup in full spin. But disregarding if we’re watching football or not, South African wines are becoming more and more popular. In Sweden, for example, it is the biggest supplier of wines to the [...]
Chile’s wine regions, what’s happening?
Tales from a recent trip Chile is a wine country in transformation. For twenty years it has been delivering reliable but quite basic wines but now many wine producers think it is time to show that Chile also can produce top quality too. And there are many things going on in the vineyards. New wine [...]
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