Vidal blanc (or simplyVidal) is a whitehybridgrape variety produced from theVitis vinifera varietyUgni blanc (also known as Trebbiano Toscano) and another hybrid variety,Rayon d'Or (Seibel 4986). It is a very winter-hardy variety that manages to produce highsugar levels in cold climates withmoderate to high acidity.^[1]

Vidal blanc
Grape (Vitis)
Vidal blanc grapes growing inOntario
Color of berry skin	Blanc
Species	50%Vitis vinifera varietyUgni blanc × 50%Rayon d'Or (Seibel 4986)
Origin	Jean Louis Vidal
VIVC number	13047

The grape was developed in the 1930s byFrench wine grape breederJean Louis Vidal; his primary goal in developing the variety was for the production ofCognac in theCharente-Maritime region of western France.^[1] However, due to its winter hardiness, this grape variety iscultivated most extensively in theCanadian wine regions ofOntario,British Columbia, Quebec and Nova Scotia where it is often used forice wine production as a permitted grape of theVintners Quality Alliance.^[2] It is also grown widely throughout theUnited States where it is used to produce bothdry and sweet wines in theFinger Lakes American Viticultural Area (AVA) ofNew York,Yadkin Valley AVA andCrest of the Blue Ridge Henderson County AVA of North Carolina,Outer Coastal Plain AVA ofSouthern New Jersey,Michigan,Virginia,Missouri and other states.^[1] The grape is also grown just 500 miles south of theArctic Circle inSweden where it is also used to make ice wine.^[3][4]

The wine produced from Vidal blanc tends to be veryfruity, witharoma notes of grapefruit and pineapple. Due to its high acidity and sugar potential, it is particularly suited to sweeter,dessert wines. In particular, because of the tough outer skin of the fruit, it is well adapted for the production of ice wine.^[2] It is somewhat resistant todowny mildew but is very susceptible to otherviticultural hazards such ascoulure andpowdery mildew.^[1]

Vidal blanc is a complex, hybrid varietal cultivated from grapevines belonging to several different species within the genusVitis. One parent, Ugni blanc, is from theVitis vinifera species of European grapevines that produce most of the world's well-known wines such asCabernet Sauvignon andChardonnay. Vidal blanc's second parent, Rayon d'Or, was aSeibel grape with itself also being an inter-specific crossing ofAramon du Gard and Seibel 405 (both inter-specific crossings themselves). Included in this extended family tree of Vidal blanc are varieties from theVitis rupestris andVitis aestivalis species and grapes produced by notable hybrid breedersThomas Volney Munson,Hermann Jaeger andAlbert Seibel.^[1]

Vidal Blanc was created in the 1930s by French grape breeder Jean-Louis Vidal (1880-1976) as a potential variety to be used in cognac production in themaritime climate and cold winters of western France. To breed the grape, he cross-bred Ugni blanc (also known as Trebbiano) inTuscany, the primary grape historically used inbrandy production, and Rayon d'Or, a winter-hardy hybrid grape that was successfully used previously to breedSeyval blanc. Though the variety was created in France, today it is no longer an authorized grape variety with only a few rare plantings remaining in the Charente-Maritime department.^[1]

In the late 1940s, the grape was brought to Canada byAdhemar de Chaunac, a French enologist working for the Ontario wine producer T.G. Bright & Company (later known as Bright Wines). De Chaunac was responsible for bringing manyVitis vinifera and hybrid varieties to Canada to see which grapes could grow well in the Canadian climate. Vidal Blanc was one of the varieties that de Chaunac experimented withlate harvest and leaving the grapes on the vines well into winter. However, the style of ice wine that Vidal blanc would become associated with didn't become commercially popular in Canada till the 1980s.^[1]

Vidal blanc is a very winter-hardy variety, able to survive prolonged exposure to cold temperatures during thedormant winter season and produce viable secondarybuds that will still yield a crop even after a late spring frost.^[2] It is amid-ripening grape able to accumulate sufficient sugar levels to make dry wines but can also hang on the vine long in to the season to produce late-harvest and ice wine.^[1]

While the vine has some resistance to downy mildew, it can be very susceptible to powdery mildew and coulure as well asanthracnose. The long grape bunches of small berries can also be prone to developingbotrytis bunch rot.^[1]

Though Vidal blanc is no longer authorized in France or widely planted there, the grape has found success in North America where it is grown in many wine regions throughout Canada and the United States^[1] as well as Sweden.^[5][1]

First introduced to the country in the 1940s, Vidal blanc is widely grown throughout Canada with 777hectares (1,920 acres) documented in 2008. In the 2019 VQA report, it was 7.6% of Canadian wine production with 471,981 bottles produced or 52,442 cases (9L). Most of the plantings are in the Ontario region, particularly theNiagara Peninsula, but the grape can also be found in British Columbia,Nova Scotia andQuebec. Here Vidal is often used to produce wines of all sweetness styles but is particularly noted for the quality of ice wines that can be made from the grape.Inniskillin, the world's largest producer of the ice wine style, makes ice wine from Vidal grapes grown in both Ontario and theOkanagan Valley of British Columbia.^[1] Another Okanagan Valley producer, Stag's Hollow, has cultivated the grape since the mid-1990s and has somewhat specialized in dry Vidal wines, e.g. Tragically Vidal, winning International competitions.^[6]

While Vidal blanc is also used for ice wine production in the United States (particularly in the Finger Lakes region of New York and theOld Mission Peninsula AVA aroundLake Michigan), it is more often used in the United States to produce dry or slightly sweet table wines. It is widely planted throughout the country, particularly in the east coast (Virginia and New York),Great Lakes region (Ohio, Michigan andIndiana) and Midwest (Missouri in theAugusta andHermann AVAs).^[1][2]

In 2010, there were 150 acres (61 hectares) of Vidal blanc planted in Virginia in regions such as theMonticello AVA. Michigan had 145 acres (59 hectares) reported in 2006. In Indiana, there were 35 acres (14 hectares) of the grape in 2009 withIllinois reporting 32 acres (13 hectares) that same year mostly in theShawnee Hills AVA. In 2009, Vidal blanc represented more than 7% of all grape plantings in the state of Missouri with 118 acres (48 hectares).^[1][2]

Other states growing Vidal blanc includeAlabama,Arkansas (Ozark Mountain AVA),Connecticut (Western Connecticut Highlands AVA),Georgia,Iowa,Kansas,Kentucky,Maryland Catoctin AVA,Massachusetts,Minnesota,New Jersey (Outer Coastal Plain AVA),New Mexico (Middle Rio Grande Valley AVA),North Carolina (Yadkin Valley AVA),Ohio (Ohio River Valley AVA,Grand River Valley AVA andIsle St. George AVA),Pennsylvania (Lehigh Valley AVA andLancaster Valley AVA),Rhode Island (Southeastern New England AVA),Tennessee,Vermont andWest Virginia.^[2]

Vidal Blanc is noted for not having the characteristic "foxy" taste that it is identifiable with many hybrid-varieties which include American grapevines in their parentage. According toMaster of WineJancis Robinson, Vidal blanc tends to produce wines with "bright and pure" fruit and acid levels that can balance out the sweetness of ice wines though the wines tend not to have muchaging potential.^[1]

In comparing the ice wines made fromRiesling to those of Vidal blanc, wine expertOz Clarke also notes that Vidal wines tend not to have much aging potential but says that these wines usually have a rich concentration of intense fruit flavors.^[7]

In Missouri, dry styles of Vidal blanc are oftenfull-bodied with a butterymouthfeel that can be similar to Chardonnays that have gone throughmalolactic fermentation. The wine also tends to have noticeable acidity, similar to Seyval blanc, with well-made examples from favorablevintages tending to have a longfinish.^[8]

In British Columbia, both dry and ice wine styles of Vidal blanc are marked by tropical aromas and strong fruity flavors.^[9]

As a relatively recently produced hybrid variety, Vidal blanc has not been known under many synonyms with the only synonym recognized by theVitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) being Vidal 256.^[10]