Aurore is a white complex hybrid grape variety produced by French viticulturist Albert Seibel and used for wine production mostly in the United States and Canada. Over a long lifetime, Seibel produced many complex hybrid crosses of Vitis vinifera to American grapes. The Aurore grape is a cross of Seibel 788 and Seibel 29.
Carignan is a red grape variety of Spanish origin that is more commonly found in French wine but is widely planted throughout the western Mediterranean and around the globe. Along with Aramon, it was considered one of the main grapes responsible for France's wine lake and was a substantial producer in jug wine production in California's Central Valley but in recent years, it has been reborn as a flagship wine for many cellars in the south of France as well as in Catalonia.
Trousseau or Trousseau Noir, also known as Bastardo and Merenzao, is an old variety of red wine grape originating in eastern France. It is grown in small amounts in many parts of Western Europe; the largest plantations are today found in Portugal, where most famously it is used in port wine. It makes deep cherry red wines with high alcohol and high, sour candy acidity, and flavours of red berry fruits, often complemented - depending on production - by a jerky nose and an organic, mossy minerality.
Vidal blanc is a white hybrid grape variety produced from the Vitis vinifera variety Ugni blanc and another hybrid variety, Rayon d'Or. It is a very winter-hardy variety that manages to produce high sugar levels in cold climates with moderate to high acidity.
Couderc noir is a red wine hybrid grape that was formerly grown primarily in the South West France wine region and around the Gard département in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. The vine produces high yields and ripens late, creating a wine that is deeply colored with a distinct, earthy flavor. Couderc noir is normally used for mass commercial and table wines.
This glossary of viticultural terms list some of terms and definitions involved in growing grapes for use in winemaking.
Calitor or Calitor noir is a red French wine grape variety. It was previously widely cultivated in southern France, in particular in Provence, but is now very rare, almost extinct. Historically used as mainly a blending variety, Calitor gives high yields and produces a light-bodied and lightly colored wine. When grown on hillside sites, it can give a wine of character.
Incrocio Manzoni or Manzoni grapes is a family of grape varieties named after Professor Luigi Manzoni (1888-1968) of Italy's oldest school of oenology located in Conegliano, in the Veneto region. Manzoni created the new grape varieties by selecting, crossing and grafting vines from various vineyards during the 1920s and 1930s. The family includes both white and red grape varieties. Although most Manzonis are grown in northeastern Italy, they are mainly grown in the Piave area of Province of Treviso and are only now starting to be sold commercially in Europe and the United States.
Olmo grapes are wine and table grape varieties produced by University of California, Davis viticulturist Dr. Harold Olmo. Over the course of his nearly 50-year career, Dr. Olmo bred a wide variety of both grapes by means of both crossing varieties from the same species or creating hybrid grapes from cultivars of different Vitis species.
Hron is a red Slovak wine grape variety that is a crossing of the Southwest France wine grapes Abouriou and Castets. The variety was created in 1976 at the VSSVVM Research and Breeding Station for Enology and Viticulture in Modra. The grape was named after the Hron river, a tributary of the Danube that is the second longest river in Slovakia. Along with Nitranka, Rimava and Váh, which were created using the same parent varieties, Hron was officially authorized for commercial wine production in 2011.
Merlot blanc is a white French wine grape variety that came from a natural crossing of the Bordeaux wine grape Merlot and the Cognac grape Folle blanche. The grape is distinct from Merlot gris which is a pink-skinned color mutation of the red wine grape Merlot and is sometimes used in vin gris and rosé wines. Plantings of Merlot blanc were first discovered in 1891 but cuttings of the vine have not been widely propagated and the variety is very rare. It is not used to make the sweet White Zinfandel-style wine White Merlot that is made by some California wine producers. Those wines are made from a saignee of red Merlot wine.
Bouteillan noir is a red French wine grape variety that is grown in the Provence wine region of southern France. While the grape has been recorded growing in the Vaucluse region since at least the early 18th century, today the grape is virtually extinct. Despite sharing synonyms with another Provençal grape, Calitor, and the Languedoc wine grape Aramon noir, Bouteillan noir has no known relationship with either of those variety. The white Provençal grape Colombaud was once thought to be a white berried color mutation of Bouteillan noir but research conducted by Linda Bisson of the University of California, Davis shows that while the two grapes are likely related, one is not a color mutation of the other.
Landot noir is a red hybrid grape variety that is a crossing of Landal and Villard blanc. Created after a series of trials between 1929-1949, the grape was introduced to Canada and the United States in the 1950s and today can be found in Quebec as well as New Hampshire where a varietal is produced by Jewell Towne Vineyards.
Ravat blanc is a white hybrid grape variety that is a crossing of Chardonnay and a Seibel grape. While the Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) maintained by the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding list Seibel 5474 as the second parent, Master of Wine Jancis Robinson notes that other authors list Seibel 8724 as the parent. The grape is often confused with the white hybrid grape Vignoles that is often called just Ravat.
Seyval noir is a red hybrid grape variety that was created in the late 19th century by French horticulturalist Bertille Seyve and his father-in-law Victor Villard from a crossing of two Seibel grapes. The pair used the same two variety to create the white wine grape Seyval blanc making the two siblings rather than color mutations of one or the other. The name Seyval comes from a combination of the two men's names.
Muscat bleu is a red Swiss wine and table grape variety that is a hybrid of Garnier 15-6 and Perle noire. The grape was developed in Peissy in the Canton of Geneva by Swiss grape breeder Charles Garnier in the 1930s. Today the grape is used as both a table grape and for winemaking, producing wines that Master of Wine Jancis Robinson describe as "soft and grapey". Outside Switzerland some plantings of Muscat bleu can also be found in Belgium.
Cygne blanc is a white Australian wine grape variety that is a seedling of Cabernet Sauvignon that was discovered in 1989 in Western Australia. Unlike Cabernet blanc, which was a crossing of Cabernet Sauvignon and Resistenzpartner, and Shalistin which is a white-berried color mutation of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cygne blanc is a selfling that sprang from a seed of a Cabernet Sauvignon berry that fell on the ground and took root.
L'Acadie blanc is a white Canadian wine grape variety that is a hybrid crossing of Cascade and Seyve-Villard 14-287. The grape was created in 1953 by grape breeder Ollie A. Bradt in Niagara, Ontario at the Vineland Horticultural Research Station which is now the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre. Today the grape is widely planted in Nova Scotia with some plantings in Quebec and Ontario. Some wine writers, including those at Appellation America, consider L'Acadie blanc as "Nova Scotia’s equivalent to Chardonnay".
Souvignier gris is a white German wine grape variety that was created in 1983 by Dr. Norbert Becker. It is a cross between Seyval blanc and Zähringer, but was originally thought to be a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Bronner.
