Midwest Wine Press

A 5 Minute Lesson in Hybrid Wine Grapes

by · September 17, 2013

There’s an excellent new video from Cornell University on how hybrid wine grapes are developed. Most of the breeding is done using a process that’s been around since at least the 19th century (no GMOs!.) But, as you’ll see, there is now a high tech aspect too.

The wine grapes being developed at Cornell (and The University of Minnesota) hold great promise for the Midwest.  Some of the grapes you might have enjoyed locally that were created by Cornell include Chardonel, Valvin Muscat and Traminette. (Traminette was started at the University of Illinois before U of I cut back their grape breeding program and transferred the rights to Cornell.)

See: Grape Breeding Made Simple 

 

Mark Ganchiff

Mark Ganchiff is the publisher of Midwest Wine Press, the leading source of news on the growing wine industry in the central United States. Mark has been a wine judge at the 2012 and 2014 INDY International Wine Competition, the 2014 Cold Climate Wine Competition, the 2013 Mid-American Wine Competition, the 2012 Illinois State Fair Wine Competition and the 2013 Michigan Wine Competition. He also enjoys speaking at wine events including the Cold Climate Wine Conference, the Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association Annual Meeting, the Midwest Grape and Wine Conference and the Wisconsin Fruit and Vegetable Conference. Mark's articles about regional wine have appeared in Vineyard & Winery Management, WineMaker and several regional magazines. Mark is a Level One Sommelier in the Court of Master Sommeliers. He lives in Louisville, but also has a residence in Chicago.

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