Beaujolais new varieties - latest news

AOC Beaujolais wines deprived of resistant grape varieties?

The system of Varieties of Interest... would not be possible for the Beaujolais appellation,

limited by the context of its withdrawal into Coteaux Bourguignons.

The president of the ODG Beaujolais and Beaujolais-Villages is all the more upset on this subject as, personally, he has already planted resistant grape varieties on his farm, with 1.2 hectares of Voltis, Floreal and Vidocq grape varieties, from of the Sustainable Resistance program (Resdur) of the National Research Institute for Agriculture and the Environment (INRAE). After the 2021 vintage, the winemaker is won over: he reports not having used “synthetic products. I went twice with orange essential oil and baking soda when it was a difficult year. This is a solution to overcome the problem of Non-Treatment Zones (riparian ZNT). At the environmental level, for me it is the solution. Marketing these cuvées in Vin de France," David Ratignier notes that he has “Already tasted 10% volume blends of resistant grape varieties. We are lucky to have Sicarex which is conducting the tests [of the Resdur program]. I don't understand the blockage. »

Alexandre Abellan, Vitisphere Flash News, 16.3.22

These varieties were nucleated in collaboration between INRA (Montpellier, France) and the Julius Kuehn Institute (Siebeldingen, Pfalz, Germany) as part of a project launched in 2000 for the development of PIWI varieties. 

Voltis

Voltis (Villaris x Mtp 3159-2-12). Totally resistant to Powdery Mildew.

White. Planted at the Bergheim experimental station near Colmar and Domaine Mont des Anges in Belgium. Said to be close to Chardonnay in taste.

Floreal (same as Voltis)

White. Different from Voltis despite the same parentage. Said to be “very aromatic and very intense with specific notes of grapefruit”

Vidocq (Aka Vidoc) (Mtp 3082-1-42 x Regent)

Red. Resistant to Powdery and Downy mildew.