Seyval Rising

There's been a lot of buzz about South Wedge Winery's first ever Seyval, so Miller Homestead's investigative reporter A. Miller fills a glass and reports:

Seyval is a white hybrid, originally bred by the Seyve family, who thought up the clever name. The cold-tolerant vines fruit generously and early, making it popular in places with dreary and depressing climates like England, Canada, and most notably the Finger Lakes region of NY. (it also turns up in Missouri and to a small degree in Oregon) One place you won't find Seyval is in Europe though, since as a hybrid grape it makes some oenophilic traditionalists uncomfortable: "Non, ve do not vant dees meexed grapes en France... Ce n'est pas bon!" states French Foreign Minister Francois Loos.

Despite a controversial but complete ban on the grape by the E.U., Seyval wines nevertheless draw frequent and natural comparisons to whites from Burgundy, with fruity aromas and a mineral feel on the palate. Ducking the comparison to stodgy french whites, Seyval is versatile, its flavor easily varied by alterations in residual sugars, malolactic fermentation, and duration of oak aging.

The South Wedge Winery 2009 Seyval enters a crowded market, as most Seyval currently comes out of the Finger Lake region. But with the average bottle price hovering at ~$9, South Wedge is optimally positioned to dominate the $25-30 market with this new entry.