I put in two more rows of grapes in the back yard vineyard this spring. I chose two varieties that I’m real excited about. Marquette, and ‘Corot noir’™ (pronounced “kor-oh nwahr”). Both of these vines are hybrid’s genetically modified to be more disease and pest resistant in SE Indiana.
Isn’t that something? We can mess with our grape vines and make them “better.” Particularly, I find the Corot Noir very interesting. These vines showed up with a pedigree that details how Cornell arrived at this particular specimen. Totally cool. Cornell gets a .50 cent royalty for every Corot Noir grape-vine sold anywhere. My vines were about $7.50 each. That’s cheaper than going in to a Lowe’s and buying a typical Concord.
Corot Noir is a mid to late season red wine grape suitable for either blending or the production of varietal wines. The wine has a deep red color and attractive cherry and berry fruit aromas. Its tannin structure is complete from the front of the mouth to the back, with big soft tannins. The vine is moderately winter hardy and moderately resistant to fungal diseases.
‘Corot noir’ was developed by the grape breeding program at Cornell University, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station. It is a complex intraspecific hybrid red wine grape resulting from a cross made in 1970 between Seyve Villard 18-307 and ‘Steuben’ (again, see pedigree). From 250 seeds, 160 seedlings were grown in a nursery then transplanted to a seedling vineyard in 1975.
Wanna know more about this neat-ass grape? Hit this PDF.
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