Vitis Frontenac gris - grape - vine (seedless)

🌿 General Description

• Type: Climbing vine (deciduous)
• Origin: University of Minnesota (like Marquette)
• Use: Wine grape (white, rosé, sometimes orange)

👉 It's a technical and high-performance grape variety, not just decorative.

📏 Growth

• Length: 3 to 6 m +
• Vigor: Strong

👉 Requires:

• trellis
• training
• sturdy structure

🍇 Fruits

• Color: Coppery pink / rosé grey
• Size: Small to medium
• Taste:
  • Sweet
  • High acidity

👉 Very interesting for:

• aromatic white wine
• fresh rosé
• late harvest

💡 Can be eaten fresh, but remains a processing grape.

🍷 Wine Quality

👉 BIG strong point:

• Aromas:
  • tropical fruits
  • citrus
  • peach
• High natural acidity → good aging potential
• Widely used for fresh and balanced wines

➡️ Produces highly appreciated wines in Quebec

🌸 Flowering / Harvest

• Flowering: early summer
• Harvest:
  👉 mid to late September (often before Marquette)

💡 Advantage:
➡️ earlier harvest = less risk of frost

☀️ Exposure

• Full sun required
  👉 Minimum 6-8 hours

🌱 Soil

• Well-drained (very important)
• Tolerates poor soils
• Avoids heavy, wet soils

❄️ Hardiness

• Zone 3
  👉 Very cold hardy (no problem in Quebec)

💧 Maintenance

• Annual pruning essential
• Training required
• Vigor management

👉 Like all production grapevines

🛡️ Resistance

• Very good disease resistance
• Good tolerance:
  • downy mildew
  • powdery mildew

👉 Fewer treatments than European grapevines