Chambourcin

The French-American hybrid grape chambourcin is not familiar to a lot of people. It’s quite new, as the grape only became available to winemakers in 1963.

Chambourcin's lack of familiarity can also be attributed to its growth locations. It's typically grown in lesser-known wine regions, many across North America east of the Mississippi River. This includes pockets in New York, New Jersey, Southern Illinois, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, as well as Ontario, Canada. There are scant plantings of chambourcin in France, Portugal, and Australia as well.

In the glass, chambourcin is a very deeply hued, highly aromatic wine. German winemakers are gravitating toward chambourcin because it is very resistant to fungus. Chambourcin is also a high yielding grape, ranging from 11.1-17.3 tons per acre.

Quick Facts

• Joannes Seyve is credited with producing the chambourcin hybrid in the 1860s
• In Nantes, France, chambourcin is used to make table wines
• An attraction toward chambourcin in a blend is often its color, which can improve a red wine blend’s physical character