These new grape varieties you probably don't know about

"Souvignier gris, plantet, rayon d'or, seyval blanc." Jura winemaker Valentin Morel enthusiastically lists his favorites. All four are hybrid grape varieties, which he defends more generally in Un Autre vin, a high-profile book that has brought the subject into the public arena. "With these ones in particular, you can't make a mistake," he continues. The implication is that these grape varieties are capable of producing quality wines, despite what is said about them. What exactly is said about them? They attract attention for their natural resistance to disease, as much as they raise doubts about their qualities, especially their taste.

To understand their appeal, let's start with a fact: vines require phytosanitary treatment. The Vitis vinifera species, from which most of the world's wine comes, needs help to combat mildew and powdery mildew. Including organically grown vines. "We know how to make wine naturally in the cellar, but in the vineyard, we're not able to produce grapes in reasonable quantities, without copper or sulfur," sums up Francis Rousset of Coteaux des Girondales, a winemaker based in Haute-Savoie and a militant supporter of these grape varieties.

Hybrids, on the other hand, are resistant to pest fungi and require no treatment. These are other vine species created naturally. Since 1877, botanists have been crossing the flower of a Vitis vinifera (the benchmark qualitative vine) with that of other, less fragile Vitis found around the world. The result: "A better carbon balance and a better anxiety balance. Less time spent in the vineyard treating vines, bountiful harvests, less interventionist viticulture and therefore lower costs", says Valentin Morel.

Putting fantasies to rest

In July 2023, an association to defend and promote these grape varieties was even set up under the name Vitis Batardus Liberata. Some forty estates responded to the invitation extended to the "hybridophiles" of France. The aim: to share their experiences and get involved in popularizing the subject among the general public, in particular to "cut through the fantasies surrounding hybrids". The summer gathering in Creuse included Lilian Bauchet (Beaujolais), Geoffrey Etienne (Creuse), Didier Grappe (Jura), Valentin Morel (Jura), Francis Rousset (Haute-Savoie), and curious visitors from Belgium. This rainy, cold vineyard owes its recent development to hybrids, as the Vitis vinifera vine is too sensitive to the Belgian climate, at least for organic production.

Ten years for the appellation

In France, AOCs are gradually becoming familiar with these resistant grape varieties. The reason given is to protect the land, water sources and local residents. The door was opened in 2017 with the authorization of 16 varieties (cabernet blanc, solaris, pinotin, johanniter, artaban...) for non-appellation wines.

Champagne was the first to move forward with voltis. Cautious steps. The planting is part of a ten-year experimental phase. Voltis will potentially join the AOC specifications in 2033, and may only represent 10% of a blend and 5% of an estate's grape varieties. The same applies to the Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur appellations, with floréal, sauvignac, souvignier gris and vidoc.

Miracle varieties

In Savoie, too, the question is being asked. At the beginning of 2024, Savoyard estates got together to taste several grape varieties. Which ones will be tested in the PDO specifications? Among the candidates are endemic grape varieties: verdesse, gringet, persan, joubertin, étraire, séreneze... "We have also discussed the inclusion of two resistants," reports Raphaël Saint-Germain, who is very involved in the region's ampelographic heritage, particularly around forgotten local varieties. In my opinion, we'd be moving away from our Alpine identity."

This is one of the shared fears regarding these "miracle grape varieties", as the skeptics ironize: the loss of singularity of the vineyards and their wines, the loss of ampelographic diversity. On this subject, winemaker and author Valentin Morel has built his argument on the parallel planting of these grape varieties in small doses, to diversify the estate economically. "It would be like starting a new crop, but with all the equipment already in place," he says. In other words, the art of not putting all one's wines in the same basket.