Grape Guide
Vidal
WhiteVidal is a white French hybrid of Trebbiano Toscano and a Seibel cross, bred in the 1930s for distilling but now valued mainly in cold-winter regions. Its winter hardiness, thick-skinned berries and ability to hold acidity at high sugar have made it Canada's leading icewine grape, with dry and late-harvest versions made across the eastern United States.
Key Characteristics
- Interspecific hybrid: Trebbiano Toscano (Ugni Blanc) x Rayon d'Or (Seibel 4986)
- Bred by Jean-Louis Vidal in the 1930s for cognac production
- Mid-ripening, moderately winter-hardy, with thick-skinned berries that hang well into late autumn
- Resists downy mildew well, but coulure, powdery mildew, botrytis and anthracnose can all affect it
- High acidity at high sugar, without a pronounced foxy character
Typical Flavors
Major Regions
Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (Canada) · Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Canada) · Quebec (Canada) · Virginia (USA) · Missouri (USA) · Finger Lakes, New York (USA) · Michigan (USA)
Also Known As
Vidal Blanc · Vidal 256
Overview
Vidal is a white interspecific hybrid, bred in western France for brandy and never established there as a wine grape. It found its role in North America, where it combines enough cold tolerance to survive harsh winters with berries that hang well into late autumn. Most of its reputation rests on Ontario icewine, which is bright, intensely sweet and marked by tropical and citrus fruit, honey and marmalade, held in balance by a clean acid line. Away from icewine, Vidal is made as dry or off-dry still wine, late-harvest dessert wine and, occasionally, sparkling wine. Dry versions are fresh and fruit-led, with pineapple, melon and citrus; some have a rounder, creamier texture after lees contact or oak. Because it avoids the pronounced foxy character of many American-species hybrids, it is regarded as one of the more neutral and approachable cold-climate whites. Most bottles are intended for drinking within a few years of the harvest.
Origins & History
Vidal was bred by Jean-Louis Vidal (1880 to 1976) in the 1930s as a cross of Trebbiano Toscano, known in France as Ugni Blanc, and Rayon d'Or, an interspecific Seibel cross (Seibel 4986). The aim was a vine that could supply base wine for cognac in the maritime climate of Charente-Maritime. Because Rayon d'Or carries non-vinifera ancestry, Vidal is an interspecific hybrid rather than a pure Vitis vinifera. It was originally numbered Vidal 256, and that name survives as a synonym. The variety never gained approval for wine production in France and is now rare there. It travelled to North America after the Second World War. In Canada it is thought to have been brought in during the late 1940s by Adhémar de Chaunac, then chief winemaker at T. G. Bright in Ontario, who imported both hybrids and vinifera varieties for trial. It was first used for table wine; commercial icewine took off from the 1980s, once producers had learned to leave the crop on the vine into the freezes of December and January. Cold-hardy hybrids of this type were widely planted across the eastern and midwestern United States during the 1960s and 1970s. Vidal remains established there, and it is also grown in small quantities in northern Europe, including Sweden.
Viticultural Characteristics
Vidal ripens in mid-season and shows moderate winter hardiness. Its long clusters carry small, thick-skinned berries, a trait that keeps the fruit healthy on the vine for weeks beyond a normal harvest and lets it endure the repeated freezing and thawing that icewine requires. Downy mildew is not a major concern, but the vine is susceptible to botrytis bunch rot, anthracnose, powdery mildew and coulure, so canopy management and spray programmes matter, and the tight clusters raise the risk of rot in wet autumns. Acidity stays high while sugar builds, which suits sweet wines and keeps dry wines crisp. Yields are naturally generous and must be restrained for dry wine, whereas icewine crops are deliberately small once frost has dehydrated the berries.
Wine Styles & Characteristics
Icewine is the benchmark style. In Ontario, VQA rules require grapes to be picked frozen on the vine at about minus 8 degrees Celsius or colder, with must of at least 35 degrees Brix, which gives a concentrated, tropical and honeyed wine with razor-edged acidity. Young bottlings are the norm, since the wines are not usually built for long cellaring. Late-harvest and other dessert wines are made across the eastern United States, where producers pick well after normal ripeness without waiting for a freeze. Dry and off-dry Vidal is common in Virginia, New York, Michigan and Missouri, in styles from steely and citrusy to fuller and creamy, depending on lees work and oak. Sparkling versions exist but are minor. Sweetness level and price are closely linked: icewine commands the highest prices, while dry Vidal is usually modestly priced and drunk young.