I’ve had the occasional seyval icewine in recent years (often quite good), but I haven’t seen a dry seyval blanc in decades. I remember some pleasant, sauvignon-like aromas off Finger Lakes seyvals.
Did better viniculture in cool North American areas make it easier to produce decent non-hybrid grapes with recognizable names that sell more easily? Or is there some other explanation?
I had a decent Seyval in CT recently at Hopkins Winery - whose wines are not always decent.
And yes, climate change has made many regions more vinifera friendly but I would add that even in regions that still rely on them, newer hybrids are crowding out many of the “classics”. While Seyval can make a decent wine, in many other cases there was room for improvement. I can’t remember the last time I had a Baco Noir, and I can’t say I miss it.
Also in Niagara, I recall it still being made in the early 80s when I moved here. My rather fuzzy recollection is along the lines of ‘mostly harmless’ , rather lacking in complexity or character. The transition to vinifera was taking place. ( this is consumer perspective not grower).
I am inventorying my cellar and I just found a bottle of Pennsylvania Seyval Blanc. I think we bought it at a winery when we felt sorry for the winery because their wine was so awful.
Jay bought 1 bottle , marginally acceptable at a low end wedding
Jay bought 2-5 bottles , suitable for holiday gift to client you wish to drop
Jay bought a six pack or more , health warning
I feel like serval was losing favor to other hybrids such as Vidal, vignoles, Chardonel, and traminette before we were talking climate change. Since then as noted already hybrids in general have been losing out to vinifera.
You are correct. I was originally just picking up on mmarcellus’ comment which mentioned BN at the of the post, and then responding John’s highlighting of my ambiguous assessment.
There used to be a winery in eastern Connecticut called Hamlet Hill that had a Seyval Blanc. I think it may have been their flagship wine. I probably drank a couple cases of it back then. I don’t think I’ve purchased a single bottle of Seyval since then though.
This is the more likely story. The older french-american hybrids are falling out of vogue in favor of newer plantings (including La Crescent, Frontenac Gris, Itasca).
Plus, Seyval is notoriously foxy and many of the newer hybrids don’t have this characteristic.