The most widely planted V. vinifera variety in New York. Relative to other V. vinifera varieties, it is cold hardy, but not so hardy as White Riesling or Cabernet franc. Its advantages include very high wine quality for both still and sparkling table wines; early and reliable fruit and wood maturity; and moderate vigor. The primary disadvantage is relatively high susceptibility to Botrytis bunch rot. For that reason, the use of vertical training combined with summer pruning and leaf removal have often produced superior results. Of the several clones tested at Geneva, we have found the locally available New York clone to be superior to those from Foundation Plant Materials Service of California. Those clones tend to set excessive crops of very compact clusters which rot easily and do not ripen reliably. Their vegetative growth is excessive and winter cold injury often is the result.