Vitis vinifera Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains - Grape Vine

The Muscat 'Blanc à Petits Grains' vine is a grape variety that is most likely native to Greece and has been cultivated since ancient times, particularly in the south of France. It is the grapes, with their musky and sweet flavour, that are used to make natural sweet wines, sun-kissed delights served as an aperitif: Muscat de Frontignan, from Lunel, from Alsace, from Rivesaltes, from Mireval, or even Beaumes de Venise. The plant, of moderate vigour, produces clusters of rather small size, composed of round grapes of amber yellow colour that develop freckles when fully ripe. They are harvested in October, about 2 weeks after the Chasselas grape. This vine prefers calcareous soils and requires a long and hot summer for fruit ripening. Well adapted to Mediterranean climates, it is quite susceptible to fungal diseases. It is a wine grape, not a table grape.

The wine grape (Vitis vinifera) grew in the wild more than 5000 years ago. Its introduction to France for cultivation was done by the Romans. Many hybrids have been created to vary colours, flavours, and uses. The Muscat 'Petits Grains' vine buds early in spring, at the same time as the Chasselas grape, and is pruned short. It is susceptible to mildew, powdery mildew, erineum mite, grey rot, grape worms, hymenoptera, and mites.

As a moderately vigorous climbing woody vine, the Muscat 'Petits Grains' easily reaches a height or spread of 4-5m (13-16ft) if left unpruned. Its final shape will depend on the pruning practiced. It is a frugal, sun-loving plant, not demanding, that thrives in a soil that is both clayey and stony, with a tendency towards limestone, and that withstands dry summers well. Its long stems cling to their support (trellis, espalier) by means of large green and voluble tendrils. Its foliage is serrated, with a deep green colour in summer, and turns a beautiful gold in autumn. Its flowering occurs in May-June, depending on the year and the region, offering very small greenish flowers gathered in short and compact pyramid-shaped and cylindrical clusters. Its round grapes, of medium size, are more or less tightly packed on rather thin and elongated cylindrical clusters. Their skin, quite thick and amber yellow in colour, encloses a firm, juicy, very sweet flesh with a musky flavour.

Muscat 'Petits Grains' grapes are primarily consumed after vinification. You can also use them for ornamentation on a pergola, a trellis, or trained against a sunny wall.