Edelweiss (grape)

Edelweiss is a white, ripens early, and in 1968 was bred by Elmer Swenson - the same year as Swenson Red It is considered particularly resistant to disease and frost resistant and is also in the Midwest and Canada arable. It is used as wine grapes and table grapes.

For about ten years, Swenson was employed as a gardener in the experimental facilities of the University of Minnesota, where he developed a passion for experimentation with grapes, which was neither particularly honored or funded, but not inhibited in its activity. Remarkably, Swenson has never made ​​wine itself in his life and also rarely drank wine; his focus was on the table grape itself.

In particular, with the grape Minnesota 78, he performed several experiments, which he subsequently led to his own farm. Crossing partners for Edelweiss was Ontario. The result was a fruity Riesling -like wine of medium shelf life and extreme frost protection down to minus 35 ° C. The breeder Pat Pierquet said to this breeding, they will one day keep alive the memory of Swenson and the wine industry secure prosperous harvests. At an international wine tasting, a winery from Nebraska won for a noble sweet wine a gold medal, which shows that diversity offers this grape variety in the wine making process.

Edelweiss is ancestor of the new breed Sogn Blanc.