Cabernet blanc

Genral: The Cabernet blanc grape variety is undoubtedly one of the most successful new breeds in the field of piwis. As a fungus-tolerant variety of the new generation, the Swiss grape breeder Valentin Blattner succeeded in crossing Cabernet Sauvignon and resistance partners. Cabernet Blanc found its "second father" in Volker Freytag, who selected the variety in the Palatinate and, after a few years of trial cultivation, applied for variety protection in 1994 and for classification in 2010. With its very good growing characteristics, high fungal resistance and not least the catchy variety name, Cabernet blanc helped the Piwis to achieve a recognised and promising status alongside the classic grape varieties in the minds of winegrowers and consumers. Cabernet blanc has shown the strongest growth among Piwi grape varieties in Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, the Netherlands and England in the past four years.
Cluster: The cluster is mixed berry, i.e. normal-sized and maiden-fruited berries are next to each other in a strongly shouldered stem frame. Before full ripening, the small, round berries are dark green and appear unripe for a long time. When ripening begins in early October, the fruits turn yellow. Especially the seedless fruits have a very high sugar content and good extract values.
Resistance:

Peronospora +++

Oidium ++

Botrytis +++

Wine: The wine is already reminiscent of an elegant Sauvignon blanc in its bouquet. If the grapes are harvested at medium ripeness and vinified reductively in steel tanks, the wines show a vegetal, spicy aroma of green grass, gooseberry, artichoke, blackcurrant and smoky aromas. When the grapes reach full ripeness, the sensory characteristics are characterised by ripe passion fruit, lychee, red pepper and spicy meadow herbs. Experimental winemakers let the highly ripe growths ferment in large barrique barrels and achieved wines in the fine French "Fumé Blanc" style.
Cultivation: The variety shows a vital, vigorous, upright growth, which requires a larger stand spacing in new plantings. The aim should be to achieve a spacing of 1.25m between the vines in order to utilise the vegetative capacity of the vine and to reduce the tendency of the grapevine to wither, which is typical of the variety. Yield reductions should be waited until after flowering in order to be oriented towards the "visible" yield level. The grape zone is loosened up due to the deeply bent leaves, so that sufficient aeration is ensured. The variety shows good frost hardiness, comparable to Riesling.