viticulturalist
Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...
Peter Morio
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a su ...
at the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding in the Palatinate in 1933.Wein-Plus Glossar: Bacchus accessed on January 24, 2013Vitis International Variety Catalogue: Bacchus Weiss accessed on December 1, 2021 He crossed a
Silvaner
Sylvaner or Silvaner is a variety of white wine grape grown primarily in Alsace and Germany, where its official name is Grüner Silvaner. While the Alsatian versions have primarily been considered simpler wines, it was included among the var ...
x
Riesling
Riesling (, ; ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling ...
cross with
Müller-Thurgau
Müller-Thurgau is a white grape variety (sp. '' Vitis vinifera'') which was created by Hermann Müller from the Swiss Canton of Thurgau in 1882 at the Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute in Germany. It is a crossing of Riesling with Madelein ...
.
Bacchus received varietal protection and was released for general cultivation in 1972. Its name is taken from Roman name of the Greek wine god Dionysus.
Bacchus can reach high
must weight
Must weight is a measure of the amount of sugar in grape juice (must) and, hence, indicates the amount of alcohol that could be produced if it is all fermented to alcohol, rather than left as residual sugar.
Bacchus wines can have powerful flavours and character, which have even been described as "exuberant", but only if it is allowed to ripen fully. It is low in acidity, which does not always make it very well suited for varietal wines under typical German growing conditions. Among the new breeds, it is considered to give less elegant wines than Kerner. Therefore, Bacchus is often used for blending into Müller-Thurgau, to give the latter more flavour. Within Germany,
Franconia
Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch'').
The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper ...
is considered as the source of some of the more successful varietal Bacchus wines.
Bacchus is also increasingly grown in several vineyards in England. The colder climate in England means that grapes retain a higher acidity and yields are lower, giving varietal wines of (potentially) high quality, somewhat in a Sauvignon blanc-like style: English Bacchus wines often fall somewhere between the typical French and New Zealand styles of Sauvignon Blanc, although there are examples at either end of the spectrum.
German plantations peaked in the 1990 at around of which more than half were in
Rheinhessen
Rhenish Hesse or Rhine HesseDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 542. . (german: Rheinhessen) is a region and a former government district () in the German state of Rhineland- ...
, where it was popular to use in
QbA
The German wine classification system puts a strong emphasis on standardization and factual completeness, and was first implemented by the German Wine Law of 1971. Nearly all of Germany's vineyards are delineated and registered as one of approxi ...
blends. In 2006 there were of Bacchus left in Germany, 2.1% of the total vineyard surface.German Wine Institute: German Wine Statistics 2007-2008
Cultivation
Bacchus does particularly well in the UK climate and is now considered the 'poster grape' for the UK wine industry. It is now also the 3rd most planted grape in the UK after
Chardonnay
Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For ne ...
and
Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...
.
Recognition
In 2017 the Decanter World Wine Awards declared that a Bacchus wine from Winbirri Vineyard, Norfolk was awarded a plantinum best in show award
Synonyms
Synonyms for the Bacchus variety include Bacchus Weiss, Weisser Bacchus, Frühe Scheurebe, Geilweilerhof 33-29-133 and Gf. 33-29-133.
Unrelated Bacchus grapes
The name Bacchus Black is also applied to the ''riparia x labrusca'' hybrid red variety Clinton grown in the Alps, while Bacchus noir refers to another cross involving
Poulsard
Poulsard (also Ploussard) is a red French wine grape variety from the Jura wine region. The name Ploussard is used mainly around the town of Pupillin but can appear on wine labels throughout Jura as an authorized synonyms. While technically ...