St. Pepin Grapes

St. Pepin (Minnesota # 78 x Seibel 1000) x Seyval. Originated in Osceola, WI by Elmer Swenson. St. Pepin is unusual in that it is pistillate (has female flowers) and has to be planted next to another variety blooming at the same time to pollinate so it will set. Breeders ordinarily do not release female flowered grapes for that reason, but the quality of this white grape was so good Elmer Swenson was asked to release it in spite of it being a pistillate grape. The flavor has a flowery quality between muscat and Riesling and has been used to make wines in a German style. The berries are firm and pleasant enough to eat that the variety would be a good table grape if the berries were larger and didn't have seeds. Productivity is dependent on having good pollination conditions at bloom time. Even then, the number of clusters per vine may be low. Lacrosse is recommended as the pollinator variety as it blooms heavily at the right time and makes a good blend with St. Pepin. For best pollination, plant one Lacrosse for every three St. Pepin vines, like this SP-L-SP-SP-L-SP-SP-L. St. Pepin vines are very vigorous. Prune the variety to canes. Ha rdy to between -20 and -25 F. s A W W,J EM