Hybrids

Hybrids have long been a contentious topic: developed for cold climates and to resist phylloxera, they are rarely associated with quality wine. Instead, they are connected to regions, such as continental USA, where it’s impossible to produce quality wine from vitis vinifera. However, hybrids have many uses, and are very varied in growing patterns, styles of wine, and structural characteristics. As climate change continues to affect growing conditions, the conversation about hybrids has evolved into how they can be successfully used in conditions in which vitis vinifera may struggle.

north american vines

There are many species of grape vines. The species that growers, producers, and consumers are most familiar with is vitis vinifera, which originates in Eurasia around modern-day Armenia and Georgia. When Europeans settled on the east coast of North America they found familiar-looking vines which turned out to be a range of different species which didn’t produce the pleasant smelling and tasting wines they were expecting. At the same time, they discovered that ripening vitis vinifera was almost impossible. The settlers had a problem: how to produce drinkable wines in an inhospitable growing environment?

By necessity, a tradition of wine made from North American species developed: the wild labrusca variety Catawba, for instance, is the subject of a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, an ode to the sparkling wine of Ohio, a patriotic paean to the wines of the fledgling United States, and a direct snub to the wines of Europe. Vines from other North American species continue to be used on the east coast, such as Concord and Norton which are nineteenth-century hybrids suited to the cold climate, especially in the winter. They are also used for jam, or jelly as it’s often called in the States.

what is a hybrid?

A hybrid is a crossing of vitis vinifera and one of the many species of North American vines, or a crossing between those North American species. The purpose of creating a hybrid is to produce a variety suited to specific growing conditions. Given that hybrids are now mostly grown in North America, they may seem a solely American (and Canadian) solution to cold, hostile conditions: if European vines can’t grow here, then let’s come up with an American equivalent.

But it’s a little more complicated than that. American vines were the solution to phylloxera, as they had developed resistance to the dreaded louse over millennia: European vines were grafted on to North American vines’ roots to prevent phylloxera from developing. Once this solution had been reached, this led to experiments with crossing Eurasian vines with North American to create varieties which were resistant to phylloxera and able to ripen in difficult climates.

In Alsace, which has a cool continental climate, there were three related hybrids—Léon Millot, Maréchal Foch, and Lucie Kuhlmann—simultaneously developed in 1911, a post-phylloxera period in which there was a lot of experimentation in the creation of hybrids. Other areas of France also experimented: Baco in both white and black versions was created in 1902, based on Folle Blanche, a variety used for brandy in south-west France and particularly susceptible to phylloxera, a problem hybrids were designed to eliminate.

can hybrids make quality wine?

Baco Blanc is the only hybrid allowed for quality wine within EU regulations, for the production of Armagnac. It has extremely high acidity, which is ideal for brandy production where aromatics and the quality of the base wine are less important. But, effectively, all other hybrids are banned for quality wine. The initial hybrids developed in the early 1900s had led to a significant decrease in quality, and in the 1950s and 60s they were removed from all appellation designations in France. Among established European regions, only Madeira retained hybrids to a significant extent, slowly being replaced by local, traditional varieties.

During the early days of modern English wine production, there were many complaints that they couldn’t use hybrids for any quality designation. Instead, they were forced to work with vitis vinifera which struggles in England’s cool, wet climate. Conversely, however, the recent success of England’s wine industry has been based on sparkling wine from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Meunier, varieties which growers had previously thought to be too difficult to grow. It can be argued that a reliance on hybrids stymies the development of quality wine.

In states on the east coast of the US and in Canada, where regulations are much looser, hybrids are much more widely planted and used for wine: in New York State, 25% of plantings are hybrids. The climate is cool, with winter frost a major issue: the summers may be warm for successful ripening, but that becomes irrelevant if the vines don’t wake up from winter dormancy. That was the issue the original settlers faced, and over the centuries hybrids have become part of the solution.

is blending the answer to making quality wine from hybrids?

I recently tasted a New York blend from six hybrids (plus a tiny amount of Cabernet Franc). “Long Stem Red” is from Lakewood Vineyards in Finger Lakes, a farm established in 1952 which transitioned into winemaking in 1988. The blend is a fascinating insight into making wines from hybrids. Owner and winemaker Chris Stamp admitted that it’s very difficult to make a single-varietal hybrid: some have excessively high acidity, little colour, and too few aromatics, but in contrast some have lower acidity, more colour, and more aromatics. This makes blending vital but also difficult, because each hybrid has so many different structural components. All of this indicates why the French in the mid-twentieth century rejected hybrids, as it’s arguably just too difficult to make quality wine. But in cool conditions, necessity prevails: Chris Stamp said that, although he also has vinifera varieties like Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, and Lemberger (aka Blaufränkisch) planted, it’s a lot less expensive to grow and make wine from the hybrids. But quality does not have to suffer.

hybrids used in “long stem red”

Frontenac

This is a relatively new hybrid, developed in 1978, with the first release in 1996. It’s a crossing of a hybrid called Landot Noir and a wild riparia vine found in Minnesota. Like many hybrids, it’s cold hardy. It produces quality wines, without the foxy character of many American hybrids. Grown in New York, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Nebraska, Nevada, and Québec. There are also pink and white skin coloured mutations.

Vincent

A hybrid developed in 1947 and released commercially in 1967. Many species of vine contributes to this hybrid: labrusca, vinifera, champanii, aestivalis, lincecumii, rupestris, and cinerea. Again, it is hardy, resistant to temperatures of below -26°C. It produces wines with low tannin and deep coloured juice.

De Chaunac

Another winter-hardy variety, with high yields, named after a Canadian who imported it from France after the Second World War. It used to be the most planted hybrid in Canada; there are now 40ha in Ontario and 40ha in New York.

Baco Noir

A 1902 crossing of Folle Blanche and vitis riparia, Baco Noir develops wines extremely high in acid, but it is susceptible to spring frost. This isn’t usually an issue in Finger Lakes but in 2023 there was early budding due to warmer growing conditions in the early spring. In Chris’s words, “We knew these hybrids were winter hardy, but we didn’t know they weren’t so good with spring frost.” Baco Noir is still planted in France and Switzerland (11ha and 1ha respectively), but it’s mostly found in North America, with nearly 300ha in Ontario.

Maréchol Foch

Another winter hardy variety and a 1911 Alsace hybrid of Goldriesling and Millardet et Grasset (which is a crossing of two American species, riparia and rupestris, and mostly used for rootstocks), commercialised in 1921. A main advantage is its deep colour with a tannic structure. There’s still a little bit planted in France and Switzerland, but it’s mostly found in North America, with over 120ha in Canada, nearly 60ha in New York, and plantings in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Nebraska.

Léon Millot

An almost identical crossing to Maréchal Foch also developed in Alsace in 1911, lower in acid with a short growing season. Chris said he doesn’t like this hybrid on its own, but it’s useful in a blend to soften the acidity. It also adds colour to a blend, which was useful for pale-coloured red wines in Alsace where it is still planted, as in Switzerland. Now also planted in the cold climates of Denmark and Sweden. Found in small amounts across North America, in New York, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, and Nova Scotia.

so what does the wine taste like?

First of all, Lakewood’s Long Stem Red only costs $11. And it’s made from hybrids. Neither of these facts may persuade consumers, or more importantly trade, that hybrids can make high-quality wine. But it’s a perfectly decent wine, light, fruity, slightly spicy, and, without being tannic, it still has a firm grip. It reminded me of Dornfelder, a German crossing (not a hybrid) designed to produce wines with colour and a fruity character.

The wine is both a science and history lesson in hybrids, how many of them there are (many more than mentioned here) and what they contribute to viticulture. The “Long Stem Red” is a blend both of hybrids developed in France as post-phylloxera solutions and in North America for cold winters. Hybrids now are back to the future: rejected, but once again useful in difficult conditions which require creative solutions, the individual characteristics of each hybrid in both the vineyard and the glass understood and appreciated. Can truly great wine be made from them? I doubt it, but maybe that’s not the point.