Seyval Blanc

Seyval Blanc is the most successful of a series of French hybrid grapes developed by Bertille Seyve and Victor Villard in the mid-20th century. A green skinned variety, Seyval Blanc is a productive grape that ripens early in the season, making it suitable for cool climate viticulture. It has found considerable success in the United States and Canada and also England, where it is the most widely planted wine grape.

As it is a hybrid, Seyval Blanc is not allowed to be used in quality wine production as legislated by the European Union. However, at least one of Seyval's progenies (Phoenix) is exempt from the hybrid stigma and classified as a vinifera grape. In England, Seyval Blanc is mainly blended into sparkling wine and controversially labelled as quality wine.

In the United States, Seyval Blanc is extensively grown in New York, where it is produced as dry white wine. It is often touted as having a flavour profile somewhere between that of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Realistically it is more akin to Chardonnay with its high acidity and positive response to malolactic fermentation and barrel maturation.

Seyval Blanc has been used as a parent variety in a number of crossings, including Chardonel, Phoenix and Cayuga.