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Vidal Blanc grape

White grape

Vidal Blanc is a white grape known for peach, tropical, honey. Its best-known homes are Canada, Finger Lakes.

StyleWhite
Body●●●○○ (3/5)
FlavoursPeach, tropical, honey
Key regionsCanada, Finger Lakes

Origin and history

A French-American hybrid bred in the 1930s by Jean-Louis Vidal, crossing Ugni Blanc (Trebbiano) with the hybrid Rayon d'Or (Seibel 4986).

Where it grows

Canada (Niagara Peninsula in Ontario), New York's Finger Lakes, Michigan, Virginia, Pennsylvania and the US Midwest.

Structure

Medium body with high acidity; made dry, off-dry and, most famously, as lusciously sweet icewine or late-harvest wine.

Aromas, young and aged

Young: peach, apricot, pineapple, grapefruit and honey. With age: candied fruit, honeycomb and marmalade, especially in icewine.

Ageing

Dry styles within 1–3 years; icewine typically 5–10 years.

Also known as

Vidal, Vidal 256.

Good to know

Its thick skins hold well on the vine into winter; Inniskillin's 1989 Vidal Icewine won the Grand Prix d'Honneur at Vinexpo in 1991, putting Canadian icewine on the map.

Wine regions for Vidal Blanc

Niagara Peninsula

Vidal Blanc wines to try

Real bottles from The Wine Library.

Sweet · Canada

Inniskillin Vidal Icewine

Niagara Peninsula · Vidal Blanc

Luscious and bright: apricot, honey, mango and vivid acidity.

Food: Fruit tarts, blue cheese, crème brûlée

Similar white grapes

ChardonnayGodelloGarnacha BlancaXarel·loEncruzadoPinot BlancMuscatChenin Blanc

Explore all grapes in the interactive guide

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