Bacchus (grape)

{{Short description|Variety of grape}}

{{Infobox grape variety

| name = Bacchus

| color = Blanc

| image = Bacchus 04c 3.jpg

| caption =

| species = Vitis vinifera

| also_called = Bacchus Weiss, Früher Scheurebe, Geilweilerhof 33-29-133

| origin = Palatinate, Germany

| hazards =

| regions =

| notable_wines =

}}

Bacchus is a white wine grape created by viticulturalist Peter Morio at the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding in the Palatinate in 1933.[http://www.wein-plus.eu/en/Bacchus_3.0.122.html Wein-Plus Glossar: Bacchus], accessed on January 24, 2013[https://www.vivc.de/index.php?r=passport%2Fview&id=851 Vitis International Variety Catalogue: Bacchus Weiss], accessed on December 1, 2021 He crossed a Silvaner x Riesling cross with Müller-Thurgau.{{cite encyclopedia |editor=Jancis Robinson |encyclopedia=Oxford Companion to Wine |edition=Third |title=Bacchus |year=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-860990-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00janc/page/59 59] |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00janc/page/59 }}

Bacchus received varietal protection and was released for general cultivation in 1972. Its name is taken from Roman name of the Greek wine god Dionysus.

Bacchus can reach high must weights, and has no high requirement for sites it can be planted and can grow where Riesling, for example, does not ripen reliably. It ripens early, about the same time as Müller-Thurgau, and has a high productivity similar to that variety.

Bacchus wines can have powerful flavours and character, which have even been described as "exuberant", but only if it is allowed to ripen fully. It is low in acidity, which does not always make it very well suited for varietal wines under typical German growing conditions. Among the new breeds, it is considered to give less elegant wines than Kerner. Therefore, Bacchus is often used for blending into Müller-Thurgau, to give the latter more flavour. Within Germany, Franconia is considered as the source of some of the more successful varietal Bacchus wines.

Bacchus is also increasingly grown in several vineyards in England.[http://www.englishwineproducers.com/grapes.htm English Wine Producers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070528100419/http://www.englishwineproducers.com/grapes.htm |date=2007-05-28 }} (The Marketing Association of the English Wine Industry) The colder climate in England means that grapes retain a higher acidity and yields are lower, giving varietal wines of (potentially) high quality, somewhat in a Sauvignon blanc-like style: English Bacchus wines often fall somewhere between the typical French and New Zealand styles of Sauvignon Blanc, although there are examples at either end of the spectrum.{{Cite web|title=Bacchus: a divine grape|url=https://www.grapebritannia.co.uk/bacchus-a-divine-grape/|url-status=live|access-date=16 October 2021|website=Grape Britannia|date=8 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016160908/https://www.grapebritannia.co.uk/bacchus-a-divine-grape/ |archive-date=2021-10-16 }}

German plantations peaked in the 1990 at around {{convert|3500|ha}} of which more than half were in Rheinhessen, where it was popular to use in QbA blends. In 2006 there were {{convert|2113|ha}} of Bacchus left in Germany, 2.1% of the total vineyard surface.[http://www.deutscheweine.de/icc/Internet-DE/med/1a6/1a64f607-a3e5-5117-3d28-952196117f51,11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111.pdf German Wine Institute: German Wine Statistics 2007-2008] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920194632/http://www.deutscheweine.de/icc/Internet-DE/med/1a6/1a64f607-a3e5-5117-3d28-952196117f51%2C11111111-1111-1111-1111-111111111111.pdf |date=2008-09-20 }}