New Grapes Approved for (limited use in) Cognac!

Photo via https://culture.cognac.fr/en/

As of July 2025, the EU has approved an amendment to the Cahier des Charges (rules and regulations) for the production of Cognac. The change allows for three additional grapes to be used in the production of Cognac—one of the historic and traditional brandies of France.

These include Vidal and two lesser-known varieties: Coutia and Luminan. According to the revised Cahier des Charges, these grapes are classified as “varieties of interest for adaptation purposes” (variétés d’Intérêt à des fins d’adaptation– VIFA). They are resistant to downy mildew and powdery mildew while remaining suitable for producing wines for distillation due to the low sugar content and high acidity.

According to the EU, the reasoning behind this change is “the need to select vine varieties suited to environmental requirements and climate change, which is having a significant impact on agricultural production systems.”

• These new grape varieties will be allowed for limited use as follows:
  • For large estates, the total combined vineyard acreage of the new grape varieties may not exceed 5% of the total estate holdings.
  • For estates smaller than 20 hectares, they may constitute up to 10% of the total holdings.

Both Coutia and Luminan are interspecific hybrid white grape varieties produced using a descendant of Muscadinia rotundifolia and Ugni Blanc. They have been approved for use in France and listed in the country’s Catalogue of Vine Varieties since 2021.

Vidal (Vidal Blanc) is a white hybrid grape variety produced using Ugni Blanc and the hybrid Seibel 4986 (also known as Rayon d’Or). Vidal was developed in the 1930s by Jean Louis Vidal, a French wine grape breeder who was (ironically) attempting to produce a cold-hearty grape variety for use in Cognac. While it was not approved for use in Cognac at the time, it did become widely planted in many of the cool-climate regions of the wine producing world, including Canada, New York’s Finger Lakes, North Carolina, Michigan, and even Sweden! Hopefully, Mr. Vidal’s descendants will receive the good news that his namesake grape has been accepted for use as he originally intended.

References/for more information:

• Cognac-EU Council Implementing Decisiono and Cahier des Charges 2025
• The Coutia Grape Variety, via the Planet Grape website
• The Luminan Grape Variety, via the Planet Grape website
• Robinson, Jancis, Julia Harding, and José Vouillamoz: Wine Grapes. New York, 2012: Harper Collins Publishers

Post authored by Jane A. Nickles…your blog administrator: jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org