Under the leadership of grape breeder Bruce Reisch, professor in the Department of Horticultural Sciences, two new white grapes are being released by Cornell's Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y. K. Colton/NYS Ag. Expt. Sta./Cornell
Wrestling with New York's cool climate is the pain and glory of the profession for the region's winemakers and grape growers. Much of the Finger Lakes' increasing reputation for good wine over the past decade is due to the region's microclimate, which is similar to the fine grape-growing regions of Germany and France.
But whether grapes will survive sudden hard freezes, or temperatures that plummet as much as 70 degrees as they did in just 12 hours last January, are questions of bottom-line survival. It can take 20 to 30 years of careful breeding, testing and evaluation before a variety is ready for release, and new grapes that have been bred for the climate are eagerly anticipated.
Under the leadership of Bruce Reisch, professor of grape genetics in Cornell's Department of Horticultural Sciences at the university's Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y., two new "cool climate" grape varieties are ready to make their debut. They will make their official entrance at a "name and release" party at the Fourth International Symposium on Cool Climate Viticulture and Enology in Rochester July 16.
Traminette is a vinifera-type wine grape; Marquis is a table grape. Both are white hybrids that combine excellent fruit quality with cold-hardiness derived from American species. They are able to stand up to short Northeastern growing seasons and exhibit some disease resistance.
Growers were instrumental in both the testing and the naming process. Until they are released, grapes are referred to by number only. A name can make or break a grape's commercial acceptance. "A bad name can hamper a good grape," said Reisch, who won the New York Wine and Grape Foundation's annual research award in April.
Robert Pool and the late John Einset of Geneva, project leaders for the grape-breeding program at Geneva before 1980, were active in the early development of both new varieties. Reisch has released three white wine grapes -- Chardonel, Melody and Horizon -- and one red seedless table grape -- Einset Seedless -- since coming to the grape- breeding program at Geneva in 1980.
Traminette, for wine
Traminette -- formerly NY65.533.13 -- is a Gewürztraminer hybrid that produces spicy wines of excellent quality, with similarities to its well-known vinifera parent.
"It is much more winter hardy and disease resistant than Gewürztraminer with a better balance of sugar, acid and pH levels," Reisch said. "Traminette should help to disprove the notion that hybrid wines are inferior to vinifera. These are vinifera-type wines from vines that are much easier to grow in cold climates."
Traminette descends from a cross between Joannes Seyve 23-416 and Gewürztraminer made by Herb Barrett of the University of Illinois. Seeds were planted by the Geneva breeding program in 1968. Reisch worked closely with the enology program under the leadership of Thomas Henick-Kling to evaluate the quality of Traminette wines and develop suitable fermentation techniques.
John Brahm III of Arbor Hill Grapery in Bristol Springs, N.Y., who has been growing the variety since 1985 and making wine with it since 1990, has just started selling his 1994 varietal label, which he calls "Traminette '94."
"This grape produces a flavorful, spicy wine with certain honey and apricot flavors that seem to age well," said Brahm, who has been in the wine- and grape-growing business for over 30 years. Because his vineyard is situated above Canandaigua Lake at an elevation of 1,150 feet, Brahm would never consider planting a true Gewürztraminer vinifera grape. He said he is tremendously impressed with the cold-hardiness of Traminette, whose yields average 4 to 4.5 tons per acre.
Herman Amberg of Amberg Wine Cellars in Clifton Springs also has been instrumental in testing Traminette. He has been selling it as a blend in his "Pearl" and "Gypsy" wines.
Marquis, for eating
Marquis -- formerly NY64.029.01 -- is a seedless white table grape -- an Athens x Emerald Seedless cross that combines the mild Labrusca flavor and winter hardiness of its female parent with the seedless trait of its male parent.
"Clusters are large and somewhat loose with moderately large -- 3.5 to 4 gram -- berries," Reisch noted. Marquis is moderately disease resistant. The fruit ripens in mid-September, after Himrod, and yield averages 5 tons per acre. Mildly fruity at first, Marquis will develop a rich Labrusca flavor if left to ripen on the vine.
The cross that produced Marquis was made in 1964 by George Remaily. Seventeen seedling vines were planted in experimental grape-breeding plots in 1968; fruit has been observed since 1974. Promising results have been reported from Marquis trials in Arkansas, Indiana and Michigan. A Cornell trial of Marquis at the Lawrence Farm in the Hudson Valley has been very successful, and semicommercial trials are being prepared in southwest Michigan.
Because there is international interest in large-berried seedless table grapes, Cornell has applied for a plant patent for Marquis. Patenting a grape carries an expensive up-front cost for the university. "Cornell cannot afford to patent every grape released," Reisch said. (Traminette will not be patented.) Free non-exclusive licenses for Marquis can be obtained from the Cornell Research Foundation in Ithaca.