Plantet is a red

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

grape variety This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see Viti ...

that was one of the

hybrid grape Hybrid grapes are grape varieties that are the product of a Hybrid (biology), crossing of two or more ''Vitis'' species. This is in contrast to crossings between grape varieties of the same species, typically ''Vitis vinifera'', the European grape ...

created by French physician and grape breeder

Albert Seibel Albert Seibel (1844–1936) was a French physician and viticulturist who made hybrid crosses of European wine grapes (''Vitis vinifera'') with native North American grapes. His crosses are known as Seibel grapes. Biography Seibel was born in Aub ...

. While the exact parentage of the grape is unknown, the most popular theories has it as a

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

of two

Seibel grapes Seibel grapes are a group of wine grape varieties which originated with the work of Albert Seibel crossing European grape with American grape species to increase disease resistance. They were planted widely in France during the 1950s but have seen ...

, Seibel 867 x Seibel 2524 with another theory speculating that Plantet's parentage was Seibel 4461 crossed with Berlandieri-Jacquez. J. Robinson ''Vines Grapes & Wines'' pg 199 Mitchell Beazley 1986 Plantet is grown primarily in the Loire Valley around

Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France * County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France **Duk ...

and is known for its prolific yields that the vine can produce. The vine is generally reliable and disease resistant, producing well even after suffering through a spring frost, however the berries tend to be difficult to crush which, along with the uprooting of hybrid varieties throughout France, has contributed to the varieties decline in the later half of the 20th century.

History

Developed by grape breeder Albert Seibel in the late 19th century, Plantet's exact parentage in unknown though it very likely has at least one Seibel grape as a parent. For most of the 20th century, the variety was the most widely planted hybrid in the Loire Valley. Throughout France, the variety hit its peak in 1968 with more than 64,000 acres (26,000 hectares), almost exclusive to the Loire Valley and other scattered northern

French wine French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and America ...

regions.J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes'' pg 147 Oxford University Press 1996 However, the later half of the 20th century saw Plantet caught up in the same disfavor that befell all hybrid grapes in France (most notably

Villard noir Villard grapes are French wine hybrid grape created by French horticulturist Bertille Seyve and his father-in-law Victor Villard (father and grandfather of grape breeder Joannes Seyve). They include the dark skin Villard noir and the white-wine va ...

Baco noir Baco noir (pronounced BA-koh NWAHR) is a hybrid red wine grape variety produced by Francois Baco from a cross of ''Vitis vinifera var.'' Folle blanche, a French wine grape, and an unknown variety of ''Vitis riparia'' indigenous to North America. ...

and others). Aggressive

vine pull schemes Vine pull schemes are programs whereby grape growers receive a financial incentive to pull up their grape vines, a process known as ''arrachage'' in French. A large program of this kind was initiated by the European Union ( EU) in 1988 to reduce t ...

that included lucrative payments to growers for uprooting their vineyards and prohibition of using hybrid grapes in ''

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

'' (AOC) wines contributed to a sharp decline for the grape variety. By the end of the 1980s there was less than 1,000 hectares of the grape throughout France.

Viticulture

Plantet was likely bred by Seibel to be a winter-hardy variety and to some extent it is. Growers in the Loire and many northern French wine regions found that the grape still produced high yields despite severe winters and late spring frost when many other varieties, particularly those of ''

Vitis vinifera ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran. There are curre ...

'' would be severely damaged. But there is limit to this benefit with the cold making the berries more difficult to crush and the variety not performing well in regions such as

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

after their harsh winters.

Synonyms

According to the

Vitis International Variety Catalogue The Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) is a database of various species and varieties/cultivars of grapevine, the genus ''Vitis''. VIVC is administered by the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding (''Institut für Rebenzüchtung Gei ...

, the only known synonym for Plantet is original catalog name, Seibel 5455.Plantet
,

, Accessed: February 21st, 2011

References

Red wine grape varieties Seibel grapes {{Hybrid grape varieties