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Vidal

Overview

If you hang around winter vineyards in the Northeast long enough, you’ll hear “Vidal” spoken with equal parts affection and debate—a white, French‑American hybrid that somehow became both Niagara’s icewine workhorse and a mid‑Atlantic utility player. Officially registered in France as “Vidal 256,” it’s an Ugni Blanc × Rayon d’Or cross credited to Jean‑Louis Vidal and now grown widely in Ontario, Québec, Nova Scotia, and across New York and Pennsylvania. Extension folks and regional groups usually introduce it as a cool‑climate hybrid that ripens mid‑to‑late season and carries naturally brisk acidity—traits that made it a pillar of Ontario’s VQA Icewine category and a historic part of early Finger Lakes plantings. (plantgrape.fr)

Origin & Breeding

French technician‑breeder Jean‑Louis Vidal selected the variety in Charente (cognac country) in 1929 from a cross of the vinifera Ugni Blanc and the Seibel hybrid Rayon d’Or (Seibel 4986). In French registers, its official name is Vidal blanc; “Vidal 256” is the recognized synonym for propagation. Some nursery histories note a later commercial release date (1952), which helps explain why the grape’s story stretches from interwar France to post‑war North America. (plantgrape.fr)

Climate Adaptation & Hardiness

Ohio State viticulturist Imed Dami spent five winters following Vidal’s bud cold‑hardiness and recorded a mid‑winter LT50 (temperature killing 50% of primary buds) of −28.6 °C on Feb. 21, 2008, with no injury that season because ambient lows stayed warmer than that. In other years (2004 and 2009), natural lows of −22.3 °C and −28.1 °C produced primary‑bud injury of roughly 34–57% and 39–49%, respectively. Dami’s team didn’t see cluster‑thinning or delayed (icewine) harvest change bud hardiness. (journals.ashs.org)

Cornell’s cold‑hardiness program (Geneva, NY) tracks cultivar‑specific bud thresholds through winter and emphasizes how dynamic those thresholds are; the team built an app to help growers assess freeze risk locally, underscoring that “how hardy” Vidal is depends on where and when you check. Nurseries tend to slot it for USDA Zones 5–8, but New York and Pennsylvania extension monitoring remains the go‑to for real‑time risk. (cals.cornell.edu)

Phenology

  • Budbreak: One U.S. nursery guide pegs Vidal at “5–7 days after Concord,” which many growers in the Lake Erie/Finger Lakes belt read as mid‑season budburst. (doubleavineyards.com)
  • Ripening/Harvest window: The Finger Lakes Wine Alliance calls it “mid‑late” ripening. U‑pick/juice data from a Seneca Lake grower show typical availability around mid‑October (Oct. 16–19 in one recent season). (fingerlakeswinealliance.com)
  • Regional maturation snapshots: Pennsylvania’s 2025 Post‑Veraison reports captured how differently Vidal moves across the state—Erie County fruit sat around ~13–17 °Brix in early September to mid‑October while Snyder County fruit was already ~17–24 °Brix in early/mid‑September, with pH mostly ~2.9–3.1 and TA trending down from double digits. The project publishes weekly tables each September–October. (extension.psu.edu)
  • Icewine timing: Ontario wineries chronicle picks beginning with −8 to −10 °C cold snaps from mid‑December into January (e.g., Inniskillin, Reif, Peller), reminding us that “harvest” for Vidal can mean October for dry styles—or deep winter for icewine fruit. (inniskillin.com)

Growth Habit

Nursery and field notes tend to agree on “medium vigor, semi‑upright” growth and large, compact clusters. Several nurseries recommend high‑wire/Top Wire Cordon (TWC) for efficiency, and Cornell’s Tim Martinson has long cautioned that many hybrids prefer high‑training systems (Hudson River Umbrella/high‑cordon), since downward‑growing shoots can sprawl and shade fruit when forced onto VSP. Growers in New York and Pennsylvania frequently use bilateral cordon spur pruning. (doubleavineyards.com)

Disease & Physiological Issues

Ontario’s provincial disease chart lists “Vidal 256” as: - slightly susceptible to phomopsis and black rot, - moderately susceptible to downy and powdery mildew, - highly susceptible to Botrytis bunch rot, and copper‑sensitive. Massachusetts’ regional chart rates Vidal as highly susceptible to powdery mildew but only slightly susceptible to Botrytis—an example of how local conditions and rating scales diverge. One Finger Lakes grower page also flags coulure and anthracnose concerns. (cropprotectionhub.omafra.gov.on.ca)

Fruit Composition & Sensory Profile

  • “Normal” fall pick targets in Dami’s Ohio trials were 20–21 °Brix, pH 3.1–3.2, TA 9–10 g/L; delaying to winter increased sugars and pH and lowered TA. (journals.ashs.org)
  • Field numbers from a Seneca Lake producer showed Vidal juice at 22.5 °Brix and pH 3.15 during an October pick. Pennsylvania PVIP data in 2025 ranged roughly 13–24 °Brix depending on site and week. (fulkersonwinery.com)
  • Icewine chemistry: Ontario examples routinely declare residual sugar around 180–215+ g/L in bottle, with TA often ~7–10 g/L (e.g., Peller, Inniskillin; Reif documented 40–44 °Brix at harvest in two vintages). (shop.peller.com)

What does it taste like? Producers tend to converge on stone‑fruit and tropical notes. Inniskillin’s straight‑talking note—“mango, apricot and honey”—is echoed by Reif’s “lychee and pineapple with peach,” while Treleaven’s dry Vidal leans into “aromatic… stone fruit and peach.” (inniskillin.com)

Winemaking Approaches

  • Picking strategy: Ontario’s VQA Icewine rules anchor the tradition at ≤ −8 °C; several Niagara houses document picks at −10 °C and emphasize pressing fruit still frozen. Peller’s tech note puts it plainly: pressing yields “only one drop of pure extract from each grape.” Reif describes five‑month, cold, stainless fermentations; Inniskillin offers a contrasting “oak‑aged” Vidal Icewine with short barrel time. (journals.ashs.org)
  • Sparkling styles: Inniskillin details a charmat‑method Sparkling Vidal Icewine, fermenting to ~9.5% under pressure at ~17 °C with ~214 g/L RS and TA ~8.1 g/L. (mmdusa.net)
  • Fermentation challenges: Peer‑reviewed work on Vidal icewine emphasizes osmotic stress at very high must sugars—above ~500 g/L glucose equivalent, yeasts slow, VA rises, and sluggish/stuck ferments become more likely; mixed or sequential inoculations with selected non‑Saccharomyces (e.g., Torulaspora delbrueckii) have reduced acetic acid and boosted certain floral/ester notes in trials. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
  • Cryo‑concentrated “iced wine”: In New York, some producers (e.g., Fulkerson) harvest in fall and freeze fruit before pressing (“iced wine”), producing a different but related dessert profile. (shop.fulkersonwinery.com)

Example Styles & Uses

  • Iconic sweet: Inniskillin’s 1989 Vidal Icewine famously won the Grand Prix d’Honneur at Vinexpo 1991; the house still bottles classic and oak‑aged versions. Reif, Peller, and many Ontario estates lean Vidal for their flagship Icewines. (inniskillin.com)
  • Dry and off‑dry: Ontario’s Reif bottles a still Vidal (20 °Brix at harvest; 13% alc; ~9.5 g/L RS), while Treleaven (Cayuga Lake) pushes a rare dry Vidal—picked last to maximize ripeness, then vinified to 13% alc. (reifwinery.com)
  • Sparkling Icewine: Inniskillin’s charmat sparkling Vidal Icewine remains a stylistic outlier with loyal fans. (mmdusa.net)
  • Regional blends: In Nova Scotia, Tidal Bay (the province’s signature white) requires at least 51% of four hybrids/crosses—L’Acadie Blanc, Seyval, Vidal, or Geisenheim 318—often situating Vidal as a structural component rather than the star. (guildsomm.com)
  • Finger Lakes “iced wine”: Fulkerson’s Vidal Iced Wine (2017 vintage spec: RS ~10.5%, TA 9.5 g/L, pH 3.3) shows the style’s New York accent. (shop.fulkersonwinery.com)

Open Questions & Conflicting Reports

  • How hardy is “hardy”? Dami’s Ohio work documents mid‑winter LT50 as low as −28.6 °C, yet Penn State materials often group Vidal as “medium” among regional cultivars—reminders that acclimation, site, and year can outweigh a single number. Cornell’s weekly hardiness tracking exists precisely because the answer moves with the season. (journals.ashs.org)
  • Disease profiles don’t line up: Ontario’s table rates Vidal as Botrytis‑prone but only moderately susceptible to powdery mildew, while UMass’ chart calls powdery mildew “+++” (high) and Botrytis “+” (slight). Vineyard canopy density, cluster compactness, and site humidity likely arbitrate the truth for each grower. (cropprotectionhub.omafra.gov.on.ca)
  • Training choices split the room: Some Vidal blocks run well on TWC/high‑cordon for labor savings; others are kept on VSP for specific wine goals or vigor reasons. Cornell’s extension cautions that many hybrids dislike low‑training/VSP, but local exceptions exist. (doubleavineyards.com)
  • Sensory range: Niagara winemakers talk about mango/apricot/honey in sweet styles, while Finger Lakes dry bottlings chase citrus‑stone fruit tension. Whether this is terroir, yeast, or picking window is a question most producers keep exploring vintage by vintage. (inniskillin.com)

References

  • PlantGrape (French official catalog): Vidal blanc entry (origin, parentage, synonym, registration). https://www.plantgrape.fr/en/varieties/fruit-varieties/409 and French page https://www.plantgrape.fr/fr/varietes/varietes-a-fruits/409. (plantgrape.fr)
  • VQA Ontario (Ontario Wine Appellation Authority): Wine Categories and Labelling; Vidal exception for Icewine and hybrid rules. https://vqaontario.ca/vqa-wine-program/wine-categories-and-labelling/ (vqaontario.ca)
  • Finger Lakes Wine Alliance: Vidal Blanc varietal snapshot (historical significance, ripening). https://fingerlakeswinealliance.com/varietals/vidal-blanc/ (fingerlakeswinealliance.com)
  • Dami, Ennahli, Scurlock (2013). Five‑year Vidal study (yield, fruit composition, cold‑hardiness; LT50 data). HortScience 48(11):1358–1362. https://journals.ashs.org/view/journals/hortsci/48/11/article-p1358.xml (journals.ashs.org)
  • Cornell CALS: Grapevine Cold Hardiness Monitoring hub (bud LT data, app). https://cals.cornell.edu/viticulture-enology/research-extension/bud-hardiness-data (cals.cornell.edu)
  • Penn State Extension: Post‑Veraison in Pennsylvania (2025 weekly Vidal Brix/pH/TA snapshots). Examples: Sept. 9, Sept. 16, Oct. 14, Oct. 21 updates. https://extension.psu.edu/2025-post-veraison-in-pennsylvania-september-9; https://extension.psu.edu/2025-post-veraison-in-pennsylvania-september-16; https://extension.psu.edu/2025-post-veraison-in-pennsylvania-october-14; https://extension.psu.edu/2025-post-veraison-in-pennsylvania-october-21 (extension.psu.edu)
  • Double A Vineyards (nursery sheet): Vidal growth habit, TWC recommendation, budbreak vs. Concord, zones. https://doubleavineyards.com/products/vidal-blanc-certified (doubleavineyards.com)
  • Cornell Grapes extension (Martinson): Canopy management and training for hybrids (high‑cordon/Hudson River Umbrella vs. VSP). https://grapes.extension.org/canopy-management-for-hybrids-hudson-river-umbrella-umbrella-kniffen/ (grapes.extension.org)
  • OMAFRA Crop Protection Hub: Relative Susceptibility of Grape Cultivars to Diseases (includes Vidal 256). https://cropprotectionhub.omafra.gov.on.ca/supporting-information/grapes/relative-susceptibility-of-grape-cultivars-to-diseases (cropprotectionhub.omafra.gov.on.ca)
  • UMass CAFE: Disease susceptibility/chemical sensitivity table (Vidal line). https://www.umass.edu/agriculture-food-environment/fruit/ne-small-fruit-management-guide/grapes/diseases/table-55-relative-disease-susceptibility-chemical-sensitivity-for-selected (umass.edu)
  • Fulkerson Winery (FLX) fruit page: Vidal juice numbers, disease notes; “Iced Wine” tech sheet. https://www.fulkersonwinery.com/fruit/vidal-blanc/ and https://shop.fulkersonwinery.com/vidal-blanc-iced-wine (fulkersonwinery.com)
  • Peller Estates: Signature Series Vidal Icewine tech pages (RS, harvest at −10 °C; oak‑aged variant). https://shop.peller.com/peller-signature-series-vidal-icewine-2013-vqa-200ml and https://shop.peller.com/peller-signature-series-vidal-oak-aged-icewine-2023-375ml (shop.peller.com)
  • Inniskillin: Vidal Icewine tasting note; Oak‑aged Vidal Icewine profile; Sparkling Vidal Icewine (technical). https://www.inniskillin.com/products/white/inniskillin-vidal-icewine-50-ml/; https://www.greatestatesniagara.com/product/Inniskillin-Oak-Aged-Vidal-Icewine; https://mmdusa.net/portfolio/inniskillin/sparkling-vidal-icewine (inniskillin.com)
  • Reif Estate Winery: Vidal Icewine (2019, 2021) chemistry and tasting notes; still Vidal (2021) specs. https://reifwinery.com/products/vidal-icewine-2019; https://reifwinery.com/products/vidal-icewine-2021; https://reifwinery.com/products/vidal-2018 (reifwinery.com)
  • GuildSomm Expert Guide (Canada): Nova Scotia’s Tidal Bay—varietal requirements include Vidal among the four core components (≥51%). https://www.guildsomm.com/research/expert_guides/w/expert-guides/2681/canada (guildsomm.com)
  • Inniskillin “Our Story”: 1983–84 Vidal Icewine beginnings; 1991 Vinexpo Grand Prix d’Honneur. https://www.inniskillin.com/our-story/ (inniskillin.com)
  • Hunt/industry histories on the 1983 birds and 1984 netting pivot (short oral histories). Examples: WineAlign profile; Foodism interview. https://www.winealign.com/articles/2019/12/10/inniskillin-wines-a-winery-profile/; https://foodism.ca/eat-drink/booze/inniskillin-icewine-canada/ (winealign.com)
  • Research on icewine fermentation stress and strategies (YAN, osmotic stress, non‑Sacch. co‑fermentation). Scientific Reports 2024; Foods 2021; PubMed 2022. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11682396/; https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/10/7/1452; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35747371/ (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Notes - Quotes have been kept short and tied to the cited sources: for example, Peller’s “one drop of pure extract,” Inniskillin’s “mango, apricot and honey,” and Reif’s tropical/peach descriptors are producer statements cited above. (shop.peller.com) - Where specific bloom dates for Vidal were not documented in extension publications, this piece points to regional monitoring programs (Cornell Véraison to Harvest; CCOVI pre‑harvest) and grower reports rather than asserting universal timing. (cals.cornell.edu)

As for why growers in Nova Scotia, Niagara, the Finger Lakes, Lake Erie, and Pennsylvania keep wrestling with Vidal year after year—Karl Kaiser’s old explanation still pops up in interviews: “It is fruity… tough‑skinned… hangs on well… [with] decent acidity.” Different winters, different goals; the rest is up to the site and the hands. (johnschreiner.blogspot.com)