Cabernet blanc

Cabernet blanc
Grape (Vitis)
SpeciesVitis vinifera
VIVC number22355

Cabernet blanc is a white German and Swiss wine grape variety that is a crossing of the French wine grape Cabernet Sauvignon and the hybrid grape Regent.[1] The grape was bred by Swiss grape breeder Valentin Blattner in 1991. Cabernet blanc has strong resistance to most grape disease including botrytis bunch rot, downy and powdery mildew and tends to produce loose clusters of small, thick-skinned grape berries which can hang on the vine late into the harvest season to produce dessert wines. Today the grape is found primarily in the Palatinate wine region of Germany with some experimental plantings in Spain and the Netherlands.[2] In France, in the Languedoc, Domaine La Colombette is heavily investing in PIWI grapes. Amongst others the Cabernet Blanc in their cuvée "Au Creux du Nid",[3] is gaining wide acclaim.

The grape is currently not being used for commercial wine production in the United States with American wines labeled as Cabernet blanc or White Cabernet instead being sweet pink-colored blush wines made from early pressing of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes similar to how White Zinfandel is produced from the red Zinfandel grape.[2][4][5][6]

  1. ^ Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) Cabernet blanc Accessed: October 22nd, 2021
  2. ^ a b J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours pgs 148-149, 285-286 Allen Lane 2012 ISBN 978-1-846-14446-2
  3. ^ "Cabernet Blanc". les vins personnalisés (in French). Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  4. ^ J. Robinson (ed) "The Oxford Companion to Wine" Third Edition pg 593 Oxford University Press 2006 ISBN 0-19-860990-6
  5. ^ Bill MacInnis "Blanc De Noir First Cousin To A Rose" Sarasota Herald-Tribune, June 7th, 1984
  6. ^ Howard G. Goldberg "Kosher Wines Go Toward the Pale" The New York Times, April 8th, 1992