Nine new grape varieties have been approved to be planted in the French vineyards. Five of them are old, almost extinct and forgotten grape varieties from the Southwest, from Gaillac, Fronton and other southwestern appellations:
- Bouysselet Blanc,
- Tardif,
- Verdanel Blanc,
- Gibert and
- Noual.
The other four are so-called resistant grape varieties. These are new crosses between European grapes and various American grape varieties. These hybrids (=a crossing between Vitis vinifera and another Vitis variety) have good resistance to fungal diseases such as mildiou and oidium and sometimes also other diseases. The grapes are
- Vidoc,
- Artaban,
- Floréal and
- Voltis.
The first two have as parents Rotundifolia, an American grape, and Regent, which in fact is a cross between a European grape and a hybrid. The idea is, of course, to reduce the need for spraying with pesticides. It will be interesting to see how these grapes are received by the wine producers. And by the wine consumers.
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