Are any hybrid grapes worthy?

Are any of the hybrid grapes planted here in America of Vitis Vinifera quality?

If so what are your favorite hybrids and producers?

Would you plant any for a back yard vineyard in a cold climate (Colorado front range)

When I was young, we would travel around to local wineries in PA, MD, and VA and sample their wines. Many of those wineries aren’t around anymore but some are like Boordy, Allegro, Chaddsford, Mount Hope, Barboursville, etc. it was a challenge finding hybrid grape varieties I liked. With whites, the one most promising I found was the Vidal Blanc. With reds, while my friends never cared for it, I was fascinated by the Baco Noir, although the Chambourcin is the grape we seemed to see the most. Can’t say I’ve had any hybrids recently.

No.

The very small, wild blueberries can be, though. Do those grow in your area?

You need to assess both the need for cold hardiness and length of growing season if you are considering putting in some vines. There are some vinifera that have decent cold hardiness (Riesling and Cabernet Franc) that might work. Of the hybrids, Vidal is probably the best and works well in a variety of areas and has slightly better cold hardiness over Riesling. Some of the other whites (vignoles and chardonell) are decent as well. But if even those won’t work, then you have to look towards those hybrids developed for cold climates. I’ve never tried a wine from them so can’t comment on quality. However, it would be better to plant something that has the ability to survive the cold and get fully ripe than to try to work with something else that won’t consistently do both.

There is a decent amount of literature on this on the web from NY, Penn, Wash, Minn, and others.

In Sweden many of the nascent wineries use a red hybrid called Rondo. It’s very frost tolerant and ripens early. For whites, a grape named Solaris has had pretty good success. It probably, with the warming going on, will be possible to ripen Riesling there in good years, too.

Chambourcin

I’ve had a few versions of it in Colorado wines, Bookcliff and Whitewater Hill, and I thought they were great. It’s a French hybrid and it is cold hearty.

The Storm Cellar also makes a nice rose’ from another hybrid, St Vincent and they are one of the highest commercial vineyards in N America.

Riesling possibly along with Traminette for whites.

Mesa Park Vineyards makes a Traminette/Albariño blend that is excellent.

Marquette and La Crescent are proven producers from more recent hybridizations. Traminette is like a fun higher-acid ersatz gewurtz and does well with some skin contact. Noiret is full of rotundone that if you can tame it makes for some interesting N. Rhone aromatics.

Ignoring hybrids for some bourgeois EuroCentric aesthetic devotion is beyond boring at this point.

Anyone interested in the topic should come to the free conference we are co-hosting this weekend!

i too have enjoyed Chambourcin – from Pennsylvania, i believe

Another vote for Chambourcin here. I’ve had very nice examples from Virginia, where it is often one of the more affordable wines and can be fun and juicy, especially from otherwise unremarkable producers. Purple Wolf and Zephaniah are two relatively minor players in the Virginia scene but their Chambourcins are notable.

Marquette and Traminette can be good. Vidal Blanc is a bit of a mixed bag but capable of making good sweet wines.

In England, there are some nice wines made from Rondo (like in Sweden as Adam noted).

In Eastern Canada, more places that have very cold winters (Prince Edward County in Ontario, Eastern Townships Quebec & the Atlantic coast) have re-planted hybrid’s and just settled on the fact that they need to hill up & bury the vines in the winter. Still lots of hybrid use in Quebec and on the east coast where there’s a burgeoning wine industry (Nova Scotia in particular) such as Ortega, L’acadie, Muscat & Vidal.
In Niagara (Ontario) most Vinifera survives without being buried, but Vidal remains to some extent for larger operations that want to produce a lot of icewine or late harvest wines due to being so hardy.
Are they worthy? Not really my jam, but wineries like Benjamin Bridge can do interesting Sparkling wines using hybrids in Nova Scotia, I’d say perhaps but blending skills are required.

Concerning cold hardiness only, chambourcin is basically the same as Cab Franc.

I’ve had it made as a white, which was tasty. Also Seyval Blanc would work in cold climates. I wouldn’t try to make a red as a hobbyist, but shout out to Norton.

Dr. Grant Cramer, a plant physiologist at the University of Nevada, has been investigating varieties which will survive and produce in and around Reno. You might want to contact him for advice.

Sadly, Blueberries aren’t grape though…

Rondo and Solaris are also the main grapes in Denmark. I must admit very few interesting wines are made from them. The most hyped danish wine is made from Pinot Noir Precoce.

And I think Keller is experimenting with Riesling grown in Norway.

US hybrids? No.

European, some, but not many. Marselan is quite interesting, but I find it too often blended with Grenache, Cabernet or both which is redundant. Scheurebe can be a lot of fun.

I’m sure this will get a mixed reaction, but I have recently found some really good Pinotage too.

Did you just swear in church???

Never had Pinotage myself, but I doubt it is as bad as everyone says like with most things.

I’ve had some enjoyable Seyval Blanc and Aurore from some Hudson Valley wineries.

I would not stock up on them, I would not expect them to age, I would not pay a lot for them. But for an affordable glass while visiting a winery or a local restaurant (I think it was $7/glass or so last I was passing through Hudson), they were totally good.

Some similarities to bigger Rieslings, or to warm-climate Chardonnays.

Vidal Blanc has only one purpose in the wine universe as far as I can tell. It makes a quite nice late harvest or icewine. Vinified dry on its own it is a nondescript white wine.