Plant material

France officially lists four disease-resistant varieties

our varieties resistant to fungal diseases have now been officially listed on the French vine register. The advisory opinion involved the wine grapes Monarch noir, Muscaris blanc, Prior noir and Souvignier gris. The four varietals were created by the Freiburg research institute in Germany. Seven other varieties with resistance to powdery and downy mildew were submitted for a permanent listing but were redirected to a temporary listing. These were the German varieties Bronner blanc, Johanniter blanc and Solaris blanc from the Freiburg institute, Saphira blanc from Geisenheim university, and the Swiss varieties Cabertin noir (a hybrid by Valentin and Sylvia Blattner), Divico noir (Changins Agroscope) and Pinotin noir (obtained by the Blattner nursery).

The temporary listing of four new disease-resistant varieties from the National Agronomy Research Institute (INRA) was also approved for fifteen years. These brand-new varieties came from the ResDur1 programme at INRA Colmar; two of them are red (IJ58 and IJ134) and two white (Col-2011G and Col-2007G). Although they are still referred to by their code names, the varieties promise “long-lasting resistance” through genetic pyramiding. They are currently under trial.

Three grape varieties were rejected on the basis that they lacked compliance with one of the catalogue’s rules, i.e. that the name cannot be contested or mistaken for other existing grape varieties. The varieties are German: Cabernet blanc (a hybrid by the Blattner nursery), Cabernet Cortis noir and Cabernet Jura noir (obtained by Freiburg).