Bacchus

Vine variety: Bacchus

Mother: (Silvaner x Riesling)
Father: Müller-Thurgau
Year of breeding:

Country of origin: Germany
Year of entry into the German Federal Office's Varieties Register: 1972
Breeder/License holder: Bundesforschungsanstalt für Rebenzüchtung Geilweilerhof,
Siebeldingen/Rheinpfalz
Number of clones:
Area planted in Germany in 1986: 3565 hectares
(The seventh most widely planted, an astonishing spread for a 'new' variety)
Area planted in England (as at August 2004): 74.3 hectares, 4th largest

Wine Character - colour: gold-green
- bouquet: aromatic
- palate: fruity, herby, spicy, soft
The wine is rich in extract and bouquet, and at 75 to 80° Oechsle the full flavour is developed. If a high acidity can be retained (countering the strong Muscat flavour) the wine is at its best and it is sometimes known as "early Scheurebe". It is generally unattractive as dry wine (with less than 9 gms/litre of residual sugar) so some addition of süss-reserve is usually made.

Time of bud-burst: middle

Strength of growth: medium-strong, upright
Growth of side-shoots: medium (strong tendrils)

Flowering time: late-very late
Flowering strength: high

Leaf: - size: medium                        - shape: three-lobed
        - colour:
        - surface undulation: slight       - petiolar sinus: V-form

Grape bunch: - size: medium-large     - density: medium-tight
Berries:        - size: medium             - shape: oval to round
                   - skin colour: green-gold

Time of veraison: early-middle
Time of harvest: middle (or slightly later)

Grape yield: medium-high
Must-weight: medium-high
Must-acidity: medium

Wood ripening: good
Winter hardiness: medium
Wood colour: yellow-brown to red-brown with dark red-brown stripes

Chlorosis resistance: medium
Susceptibility to - Oidium: low                              - Peronospora:
                       - Botrytis: low-medium                 - Roter Brenner:
                       - Phomopsis: slight                      - Stem-atrophy: a slight weakness
To avoid disease it is important that good air-circulation occurs around the vines, ideally there should be a small gap in the leaf-wall between each plant.

Preferred soil: deep, very fertile. In extremely dry soils it can suffer from dryness/sunburn damage to the berries called "Bacchus sickness".
Suitable rootstocks: SO4, Binova, 5C on strong-growing soil, possibly 125AA on weak-growing soils. Not 5BB which would produce too much leaf.

Normal stem height: 0.7 to 0.8m
Normal row spacing: 1.8 to 2.0m
Vine spacing in the row: 1.2 to 1.3m

Winter Pruning: 6 to 8 (max 10) eyes/buds per sq. metre of land occupied by the plant.

Advantages: High yield, good wood-ripening, an uncomplicated variety, easy to grow.

Disadvantages: Very slight weakness for stem-atrophy, no real disadvantages.