What are cold hardy and hybrid grapes?

We talk a lot about "cold hardy" and “hybrid” grapes, but what the heck does that actually mean?

The most basic way to think about hardiness is cold tolerance. When winter hits, can a vine survive and produce fruit after 0°F weather? What about -15°F? And -25°F?

If you're a gardener, you're probably familiar with cold hardiness zones. The same concept is true in vines - what grows in Texas isn't necessarily going to grow in California or New York. Even in the state of Michigan, what grows in Southwest Michigan may not grow Up North.

There is a huge diversity in grapevine species and varieties that thrive best in hot and cold climates and everything in between. Vitis vinifera which originated near the modern-day country of Georgia and thrive in the Mediterranean tend to be more cold sensitive. These include popular varieties like Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. Other species of grapevines are more naturally cold hardy such as the vitis riparia or vitis labrusca species which are native to North America.

Winter in the vineyard in Pellston, Michigan, a town nicknamed “the Ice Box of America.”

Over the centuries, humans have selected and bred grapevines for different desired characteristics, including cold hardiness. And this is not unique to grapes! Humans have been breeding plants for centuries. It's how we have corn, tomatoes, and lots of types of apples.

When vines of the same species are bred together it is called a crossbreed. This is how we have some of the most famous wine grapes in the world. For example Cabernet Sauvignon is a cross between Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc.

A hybrid vine on the other hand is bred between two different species of grapevine. In the vines we work with, it's the result of breeding vitis vinifera which originated near the modern-day country of Georgia and thrive in the Mediterranean with vitis riparia (or vitis labrusca) which are native to North America (or other vitis species native to Asia and Russia).

Hybrid vines tend to be cold hardy, have good disease resistance and yield well, which means we can grow them economically. Winemakers in Northern Michigan and across the country are creating beautiful, expressive wines with these grapes - wines that reflect the place these grapes grow in. For those of us who love Northern Michigan, that's pretty dang exciting!

Derrick checking on a Zweiglt vine at the home farm. Zweiglt is the most planted red variety in Austria.

At our home farm in Charlevoix we’re in a unique position halfway between Traverse City and Petoskey where we still get some of the climactic benefits and protection from Grand Traverse Bay, but are in an area that doesn’t have a lot of historical and site specific temperature data to know that we won’t dip into the vinifera danger zone.

We are taking a cautiously optimistic approach with our vines – planting cold hybrid vines we know will thrive and testing a small planting of more cold-tolerant vinifera vines that do well in cooler regions like Austria and Germany. We’ll be observing the viability of our Riesling, Gruner Veltliner and Blaufrankisch over the next few years to determine what to plant next. In the meantime, we say embrace the genetic diversity that hybrids have to offer!

If you want to know more, a great place to keep reading is A Beginner's Guide to Hybrid Grapes article from Wine Enthusiast.