L'Acadie blanc is a white

Canadian wine Canadian wine is wine produced in Canada. Ontario and British Columbia are the two largest wine-producing provinces in Canada, with two-thirds of the Canada's vineyard acreage situated in Ontario. However, wine producing regions are also present i ...

grape variety This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried ( raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see V ...

that is a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

crossing of Cascade and Seyve-Villard 14-287. The grape was created in 1953 by grape breeder Ollie A. Bradt in

Niagara, Ontario Niagara, Ontario may refer to: * Niagara-on-the-Lake, formerly called Niagara, a town that was at the mouth of the Niagara River * Niagara Falls, Ontario, a city located adjacent to Niagara Falls * Niagara Peninsula, a peninsula located between Lak ...

at the Vineland Horticultural Research Station which is now the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre. Today the grape is widely planted in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native E ...

with some plantings in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen ...

and

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

.J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pgs 197, 523 Allen Lane 2012 Some wine writers, including those at Appellation America, consider L'Acadie blanc as "Nova Scotia’s equivalent to

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 new a ...

". The grape is considered a complex hybrid which means that it has genes from several different species of genus '' Vitis'' in its lineage. The full lineage of L'Acadie blanc was mapped out by Helen Fisher of the University of Guelph and revealed that the grape has members from eight different ''Vitis'' species including ''

Vitis aestivalis ''Vitis aestivalis'', the summer grape, or pigeon grape is a species of grape native to eastern North America from southern Ontario east to Maine, west to Oklahoma, and south to Florida and Texas. It is a vigorous vine, growing to 10 m or more hi ...

'', '' Vitis berlandieri'', ''

Vitis cinerea ''Vitis cinerea'', the graybark grape, is a variety of grape. It has small black berries A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone ...

'', ''

Vitis labrusca ''Vitis labrusca'', the fox grape, is a species of grapevines belonging to the ''Vitis'' genus in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The vines are native to eastern North America and are the source of many grape cultivars, including Catawba, ...

'', ''

Vitis lincecumii ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 79 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, ...

'', '' Vitis riparia'', ''

Vitis rupestris ''Vitis rupestris'' is a species of grape native to the United States that is known by many common names including July, Coon, sand, sugar, beach, bush, currant, ingar, rock, and mountain grape. It is used for breeding several French-American hy ...

'' and ''

Vitis vinifera ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran. There are curr ...

''. In contrast, around 99% of the world's wine is made from grapes belonging only to ''Vitis vinifera'' species.

History and pedigree

L'Acadie blanc was created in 1953 by Ollie Bradt at the Vineland research center in Niagara, Ontario. The grape is a crossing the Seibel grape Cascade and the Villard grape Seyve-Villard 14-287, both bred by French

horticulturalist Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

. Cuttings of the new grape variety were sent to the Kentville research station (now known as the Kentville Research and Development Centre) in

Kentville Kentville is an incorporated town in Nova Scotia. It is the most populous town in the Annapolis Valley. As of 2021, the town's population was 6,630. Its census agglomeration is 26,929. History Kentville owes its location to the Cornwallis Rive ...

, Nova Scotia. Here the grape was given the name L'Acadie blanc after

Acadia Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17th and early 18t ...

, the former

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to King ...

colony that is now part of

The Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of ...

in eastern Canada. L'Acadie blanc is a complex hybrid with an extensive lineage that was mapped out by University of Guelph professor Helen Fisher. Within L'Acadie blanc's pedigree are members of several ''Vitis'' species including ''V. aestivalis'', ''V. berlandieri'', ''V. cinerea'', ''V. labrusca'', ''V. lincecumii'', ''V. riparia'', ''V. rupestris'' and ''V. vinifera''. Some of the notable members of L'Acadie blanc's family tree include: *Seyve-Villard 14-287, one of L'Acadie blanc's parent varieties, which itself is a complex hybrid crossing of the Seibel grape Seibel 6747 and Muscat du Moulin *Muscat du Moulin is also a complex hybrid of Couderc 603 (a sibling of

Couderc noir Couderc noir is a red wine hybrid grape that was formerly grown primarily in the South West France wine region and around the Gard ''département'' in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. The vine produces high yields and ripens late, creating a w ...

) and the ''Vitis vinifera''

Spanish wine Spanish wine () includes red, white, and sparkling wines produced throughout the country. Located on the Iberian Peninsula, Spain has over 1.2 million hectares (2.9 million acres) planted in wine grapes, making it the most widely p ...

grape

Pedro Ximénez Pedro Ximénez (also known as PX and many other variations) is the name of a white Spanish wine grape variety grown in several Spanish wine regions but most notably in the '' denominación de origen'' (DO) of Montilla-Moriles. Here it is used t ...

*Couderec 603 is a crossing of the ''Vitis vinifera''

French wine French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and Amer ...

grape Bourrisquou from

Ardèche Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.Concord, Chasselas Musqué, the ''Vitis vinifera''

teinturier Teinturier grapes are grapes whose flesh and juice is red in colour due to anthocyanin pigments accumulating within the pulp of the grape berry itself. In most cases, anthocyanin pigments are confined to the outer skin tissue only, and the squee ...

grapes

Alicante Bouschet Alicante Bouschet or Alicante Henri Bouschet is a wine grape variety that has been widely cultivated since 1866. It is a cross of Petit Bouschet (itself a cross of the very old variety Teinturier du Cher and Aramon) and Grenache.Alicante Ganzin Alicante Ganzin is a red French wine grape variety. Unlike most ''Vitis vinifera'' wine grapes, Alicante Ganzin is a teinturier with dark flesh that produces red juice. Most varieties used to produce red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah ...

as well as the Munson grape in its lineage.

Viticulture

L'Acadie Blanc Vines-with example of bud break and wire training

L'Acadie blanc is a very cold hardy vine able to withstand temperatures as low as to , making it much hardier than the more widely planted Seyval blanc. The vine is an early to mid-ripening grape that has to the potential to be very productive and high yielding if not kept in check by winter

pruning Pruning is a horticultural, arboricultural, and silvicultural practice involving the selective removal of certain parts of a plant, such as branches, buds, or roots. The practice entails the ''targeted'' removal of diseased, damaged, d ...

and later seasonal green harvesting. L'Acadie blanc tends to produce loose bunches which gives it some protection towards the

viticultural hazard This is a list of diseases of grapes (''Vitis'' spp.). Bacterial diseases Fungal diseases Miscellaneous diseases and disorders Nematodes, parasitic Phytoplasma, virus and viruslike diseases See also *'' Ampeloglypter ater'' *'' A ...

of botrytis bunch rot. There have been successes growing certified organically.

Wine regions

L'Acadie blanc is most widely planted in Nova Scotia where its cold hardiness is valued. Other plantings exist in north-central Ontario and Quebec where the grape's strong disease resistance makes it a promising planting. In Quebec some of the warmer southern regions of the province tends to produce styles lacking

acidity In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

while Québécois plantings in cooler areas have been increasing.

Styles

While L'Acadie blanc is made in a

varietal A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.winepros.com.au. ...

style it is often with other white grape varieties including Seyval blanc, Vandal-Cliche and

Vidal blanc Vidal blanc (or simply Vidal) is a white hybrid grape variety produced from the ''Vitis vinifera'' variety Ugni blanc (also known as Trebbiano Toscano) and another hybrid variety, Rayon d'Or (Seibel 4986). It is a very winter-hardy variety th ...

. Some wineries are producing traditional method sparkling styles. According to

Master of Wine Master of Wine (MW) is a qualification (not an academic degree) issued by The Institute of Masters of Wine in the United Kingdom. The MW qualification is generally regarded in the wine industry as one of the highest standards of professional kno ...

Jancis Robinson Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, ComMA, MW (born 22 April 1950) is a British wine critic, journalist and wine writer. She currently writes a weekly column for the '' Financial Times'', and writes for her website JancisRobinson.com, updated daily. S ...

, varietal styles of L'Acadie blanc tend to be more full bodied than other Canadian whites with floral and honeyed aroma notes.

Synonyms

As a relatively recently created hybrid, L'Acadie blanc does not have many synonyms with only Acadie, L'Acadie, La'Cadie, L. Acadie blanc, V 53261 and Vineland 53261 generally recognized.

Vitis International Variety Catalogue The Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) is a database of various species and varieties/cultivars of grapevine, the genus ''Vitis''. VIVC is administered by the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding (''Institut für Rebenzüchtung Ge ...

(VIVC)
L'Acadie blanc
' Accessed: June 15th, 2013

References

{{Hybrid grape varieties White wine grape varieties Hybrid grape varieties