On Tue, 23 Oct 2012 Emery Davis wrote:

On 10/23/2012 04:51 PM, David Rance wrote:

2. Seyval Blanc - I was given some cuttings of this back in 1976 by
someone who had a vineyard in Wales. Those were the early days of the
viticulture revival in Britain and was one of the two main grape
varieties grown then (the other was Muller-Thurgau). Pros: it's a hybrid
and is not susceptible to mildew or any other disease in my experience.
Cons: none. However it does ripen later in late September/October and
produces a much fresher wine. For this reason many vineyards in the UK
use it for producing sparkling wine. It is *very* prolific.

I take it you mean it's very acidic?

Er well, yes!

I guess this is virtually unknown
in France... It seems to be a V. labrusca cross perhaps? (Wiki says it
has non-vinifera genes). That would make it illegal to call the wine
"wine" in the EU I believe! (Not that it would stop me, mind).

No, Wine from the Seyval grape can't be a quality wine. It was developed
(I think) in Switzerland but is hardly seen on the continent, probably
for the reason you mention. It's used a lot in England and, to some
extent, in America.

Whereabouts are you?

A little south of you, in the Orne. Just south of Argentan in the foret
d'Ecouves. Our problem is that the soil is pretty acidic, but I gather
vines like chalk.

Yes, they do. Particularly a chalky, flinty soil. In fact Seyval won't
fertilise unless it *is* grown on a chalky soil. Such a malady is known
as "coulure".

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK
http://rance.org.uk