-
Autumn Royal is a purple/black seedless table grape. Grown naturally, it has one of the largest berries of any seedless black variety.
-
Flame Seedless is a late season, seedless variety that can be used for eating fresh or dried to make larger raisins.
-
Diamond Muscat is an early season, seedless variety that can be used for eating fresh or dried to make raisins. It has a muscat flavor.
-
This is the latest ripening variety of the Bordeaux family of grapes. It produces rich colored wines with high tannins. The clusters and berries are small. It is grown throughout the world in small quantities. But, it is not considered a winter hearty variety.
-
Although Primitivo is considered to be the same as Zinfandel (they have the same DNA), we list Primitivo differently because this selection is a looser cluster than Zinfandel and is less susceptible to rot and other diseases. It can be used to make red and white (rose) wine. Primitivo is not as winter cold hardy as other varieties but can be planted where temperatures stay above 15 degrees F. It is a high producing variety that makes fruity wines that can be consumed at a young age.
-
Also known as Mataro, is a variety that prefers hot dry regions and tends to ripen later. Mourvedre is most commonly found in Blends of Syrah and Grenache although it does very well on its own or as a rose. The wines tend to be full bodied with earthy undertones and a dried strawberry backbone of fruit.
-
One of the six main Bordeaux varieties, Malbec, or Cot as it is called in France, is a great stand-alone variety but normally used as a blender. It is fairly productive and provides deep color. It is grown throughout the world including France, the U.S., Argentina and Chile. However, it is not very winter hardy, so it is not recommended for regions dipping below 20 degrees F.
-
Often called White Riesling, it produces aromatic wines with high acid. It has small clusters and small berries and can be left on the vine to produce late harvest wine with noble rot. The vines are very cold hardy and are grown the coolest regions of Germany, France, Austria, and Canada. It is popular on the East Coast as well.
-
More popular as Petite Sirah in the U.S., this variety produces inky, black, full bodied wines. It is often used as a blender with Zinfandel. But, it is also blended in small amounts with other varieties to add color, and structure. The berries are small (petite) and the clusters are tightly packed making it highly susceptible to bunch rot. It is not considered a cold tolerant variety.
-
Sauvignon Blanc is a high producing white wine variety that is not very winter cold tolerant. It is grown in every grape growing region from hot to cool climates. It has medium disease tolerance. Harvested early, it will make a wine with grassy, citrus fruit flavors. Harvested later will produce more tropical fruit flavors.
-
Grenache is a late ripening variety that prefers hot and dry climates. Given the right conditions this variety can produce a large crop that will need to be balanced in the vineyard for quality wine production. The wines produced from this variety usually show bright red fruit and subtle spice characteristics.
-
A parent to Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc is another of the Bordeaux varieties. Cab Franc is lighter than Cab Sauv with different flavor profiles. It ripens a little earlier than Cab Sauv and is very popular on the East Coast of the U.S. as it has a good tolerance for cold winter temperatures. Like Cab Sauv, Cab Franc has small, thick skinned berries that have a high tolerance to diseases.
