Chambourcin

Although not much is known about the birth of the aromatic Chambourcin, we do know that it was introduced to the public by Joannes Seyve in 1963, in the Loire Valley. It is a French-American hybrid which produces a blue-black fruit after a long growing season. Chambourcin vines have many assets that make it more resistant to disease, such as cold weather hardiness and loose bunches. This versatile fruit lends itself to medium- to full-bodied complex wines, softer than Cabernet and Merlot, but spicy like Shiraz. It imparts flavors such as raspberry, cloves, cherry, plum and tobacco, and is nicely complemented by dark chocolate. It is widely grown in the Loire Valley, France, and Queensland, Australia, and is quickly gaining popularity in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States.

We are planning to producing a semi-sweet rosé and a dry red from Chambourcin grapes. The rosé will come from grapes grown exclusively in our vineyard here in Vienna, MD. While we wait for the rest of the vines to mature, we are using fruit from regional grape-growers to produce the dry red.

Vidal Blanc

Better known as Vidal, for its breeder Jean Louis Vidal, this French-hybrid was born of Ugni blanc (Trebbiano) and Seibel grapes in the 1930s. As a highly productive grape, it is widely grown in Canada and the eastern United States. The robustness of the vine allows Vidal to survive in cooler climates, although it prefers (like many of us) a more moderate winter. Its adaptable characteristics make it suitable for many types of wine, including off-dry Germanic style wines, sparkling cuvées, and simple table wines. Canadian wine makers even use it for Ice Wine, which is made from grapes harvested and pressed while still frozen.

Vidal grows in long, loose clusters (see picture). They ripen slowly and steadily, to produce clean, citrus flavored wines. The fruity flavors range from grapefruit and lemon to melons and pears.

We are currently working on a dry white, made from Vidal blanc grapes grown right here at Layton’s Chance!

Traminette

If you are familiar with German wines, you may recognize a familiar flavor in a glass of our Traminette white wine. Both the name and the vine are offspring of the Gewürztraminer grape variant (itself a variant of Traminer). The vines produce large, loose clusters of light green grapes which ripen mid-season for a well-balanced, textured wine.

Traminette, the offspring hybrid which we grow here in Vienna, is sturdier and more cold-hardy than its more renowned parent. And yet, it exhibits many of the unique qualities—floral aroma, spicy flavor, and residual sweetness—for which Gewürztraminer is famous. These wines have a delightfully light and crisp expression, very similar to Germany’s most popular viticultural export, the Riesling.

For our first season, we will make a sweet wine from Traminette grapes, some grown less than an hour away! We expect to harvest grapes from our own vineyard for this wine in the coming years.