St. Pepin (grape)
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St. Pepin is a modern hybrid variety of wine grape, mostly grown in North America. It produces grapes suitable for make fruity white wines similar to Riesling or as a base for blended wines. The grapes also make a good seeded table grape for eating. It has the benefits of early ripening and when hardened properly in the fall it is winter hardy to at least -25 F. As such it best suited to growing in more northern climates.
St. Pepin was produced and patented by Elmer Swenson circa 1970. It is a hybrid of the male Seyval crossed to a cross of Minnesota 78 by Seibel 1000 (aka Rosette). Unlike most modern grapes it is a pistillate female and so needs to be planted next to male vines from a close sibling variety to achieve pollination.
Parentage
To clarify the parentage of St. Pepin;
- Minnesota 78 is a cross of Beta by Jessica
- Beta is a cross of a variety of Vitis riperia by Concord
- Jessica is a cross of a variety of Vitis labrusca by a variety of Vitis aestivalis
- Seyval is a cross of Seibel 5656 and Seibel S4986 Both these hybrids are a complex set of crosses of other Seibel hybrids.