Ravat blanc is a white

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 ...

variety that is a crossing of

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

and a

Seibel grape 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 see ...

. While 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 ...

(VIVC) maintained by the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding list Seibel 5474 as the second parent,

(VIVC)
Ravat blanc
' Accessed: April 30th, 2013

Master of Wine Master of Wine (MW) is a qualification (not an academic degree) issued by The Institute of Masters of Wine in the United Kingdom. The MW qualification is generally regarded in the wine industry as one of the highest standards of professional knowle ...

Jancis Robinson Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, ComMA, MW (born 22 April 1950) is a British wine critic, journalist and wine writer. She currently writes a weekly column for the ''Financial Times'', and writes for her website JancisRobinson.com, updated daily. She ...

notes that other authors list Seibel 8724 as the parent.J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pgs 874-875 Allen Lane 2012 The grape is often confused with the white hybrid grape Vignoles that is often called just Ravat (or officially Ravat 51). Created in the 1930s by French grape breeder J.F. Ravat, there were over 600

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

s (1,483 acres) of the grape planted in France in 1958. Today, the grape is more likely to be found in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

where producers in the

Finger Lakes AVA The Finger Lakes AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Upstate New York, south of Lake Ontario. It was established in 1982 and encompasses the eleven Finger Lakes, but the area around Canandaigua, Keuka, Seneca, and Cayuga Lakes contain ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

use to it make

sweet wine Dessert wines, sometimes called pudding wines in the United Kingdom, are sweet wines typically served with dessert. There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a meal ...

History and pedigree

Ravat blanc was created in the 1930s by J.F. Ravat in the commune of

Marcigny Marcigny () is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. History Marcigny was the site of the first Cluniac nunnery, founded in 1056. St Anselm was unsuccessful in attempting to e ...

in the

Saône-et-Loire Saône-et-Loire (; Arpitan: ''Sona-et-Lêre'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the rivers Saône and Loire, between which it lies, in the country's central-eastern part. Saône-et-Loire is Bo ...

department of eastern France that includes the

Burgundy wine Burgundy wine ( or ') is made in the Burgundy region of eastern France, in the valleys and slopes west of the Saône, a tributary of the Rhône. The most famous wines produced here, and those commonly referred to as "Burgundies," are dry red wi ...

region. Ravat crossed the ''

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 ...

'' Chardonnay grape with a hybrid Seibel grape (either Seibel 5474 or Seibel 8724) created by the French

viticulturist Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

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 ...

. This lineage makes Ravat blanc a "complex" hybrid in that its pedigree includes genes from several ''

Vitis ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 79 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, b ...

'' species. Seibel 5474 (the parent vine recognized by the VIVC) is itself a complex hybrid crossing of Seibel 405 and Seibel 867. In Seibel 405's lineage are vines from the ''

Vitis rupestris ''Vitis rupestris'' is a species of grape native to the United States that is known by many common names including July, Coon, sand, sugar, beach, bush, currant, ingar, rock, and mountain grape. It is used for breeding several French-American hy ...

'' and ''

Vitis aestivalis ''Vitis aestivalis'', the summer grape, or pigeon grape is a species of Vitis, grape native to eastern North America from southern Ontario east to Maine, west to Oklahoma, and south to Florida and Texas. It is a vigorous vine, growing to 10 m or ...

'' species while Seibel 867 is a crossing of two other complex hybrids

Noah Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...

(with has ''

Vitis riparia ''Vitis riparia'' Michx, with common names riverbank grape or frost grape, is a vine indigenous to North America. As a climbing or trailing vine, it is widely distributed across central and eastern Canada and the central and northeastern parts ...

'' and ''

Vitis labrusca ''Vitis labrusca'', the fox grape, is a species of grapevines belonging to the ''Vitis'' genus in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The vines are native to eastern North America and are the source of many grape cultivars, including Catawba, Co ...

'' in its lineage) and

Vivarais Vivarais (; oc, Vivarés; la, Vivariensis provincia{{cite web , url=http://www.columbia.edu/acis/ets/Graesse/orblatv.html , title = ORBIS LATINUS - Letter V) is a traditional region in the south-east of France, covering the ''département'' of ...

(also known as Seibel 2003 which is a crossing of Munson and Herbmont d'Aurelles).

(VIVC)
Seibel 867
' Accessed: April 30th, 2013 The grape was widely planted after its release with more than 600 hectares (1,483 acres) of the variety reported in France in 1958. But the low quality of the grape's wine, the vine's low fertility and its susceptibility to a number of

viticultural hazards This is a list of diseases of grapes (''Vitis'' spp.). Bacterial diseases Fungal diseases Miscellaneous diseases and disorders Nematodes, parasitic Phytoplasma, virus and viruslike diseases See also *''Ampeloglypter ater'' *''Ampe ...

(including

powdery mildew Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that affects a wide range of plants. Powdery mildew diseases are caused by many different species of ascomycete fungi in the order Erysiphales. Powdery mildew is one of the easier plant diseases to identify, as ...

) lead to a sharp drop in plantings and by 2008 there was 7 hectares (17 acres) of the grape left in France.

Viticulture

Ravat blanc is a mid-ripening grape variety that

buds In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be specia ...

which can leave it susceptible to early spring frosts. While the vine has some resistance to

downy mildew Downy mildew refers to any of several types of oomycete microbes that are obligate parasites of plants. Downy mildews exclusively belong to the Peronosporaceae family. In commercial agriculture, they are a particular problem for growers of crucif ...

, it is a very susceptible to a number of viticultural hazards including

anthracnose A plant canker is a small area of dead tissue, which grows slowly, often over years. Some cankers are of only minor consequence, but others are ultimately lethal and therefore can have major economic implications for agriculture and horticultur ...

botrytis bunch rot ''Botrytis cinerea'' is a necrotrophic fungus that affects many plant species, although its most notable hosts may be wine grapes. In viticulture, it is commonly known as "botrytis bunch rot"; in horticulture, it is usually called "grey mould" or ...

and powdery mildew. Ravat blanc tends to produce small bunches of berries that can turn slightly pink after ''

veraison In viticulture, veraison (french: véraison, ) is the onset of the ripening of the grapes. The official definition of ''veraison'' is "change of color of the grape berries". Veraison represents the transition from berry growth to berry ripening, ...

'' when fully ripe.

Wine regions

While once widely planted in France, today there is only 7 ha (17 acres). Most of these plantings are in the Rhone valley where Domaine Mondon-Demeuré has Ravat blanc planted in a vineyard with other rare varieties just northwest of the commune of

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Saint-Étienne is the t ...

. As the grape does not qualify for any ''

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) designation, the

varietal A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.winepros.com.au. ...

wine that Domaine Mondon-Demeuré produces from Ravat blanc is labeled only as a ''vin de France''. Outside France the grape is more readily found in the United States where wineries such as

Bully Hill Vineyards Bully Hill Vineyards is a vineyard and winery located in Hammondsport, New York, United States, in the Finger Lakes American Viticultural Area. History Background and Prohibition In 1920, the Taylor Wine Company needed room to expand as wel ...

in the Fingers Lake AVA of New York State use the grape to sweet wines.

Synonyms

Over the years Ravat blanc has been known under a variety of synonyms including: Rava 6, Ravat 6, Ravat Chardonnay, Ravat Chardonnay 6, Ravat Chardonnay B.

References

{{Hybrid grape varieties White wine grape varieties Hybrid grape varieties