Grapevine of the Month: Divico

Divico. Why all the fuss?

A flurry of UK mainstream media in 2019, spoke about Divico being a game changer for the UK wine industry and a number of vineyards took the plunge. Yotes Court, Kent was one of the first to produce a 100% Divico wine in 2022, with their wine described as full bodied, with black plums and violets.  It has already started to get a reputation for quality and complexity.

Further north, we are now seeing a number of Midlands and Yorkshire vineyards producing great crops and using the variety to enhance wine blends, showing the resilience of the grape, and that it is equally at home in the north of England. Experience is showing that the variety is a good match for the UK, so what is so special?

The Divico grape variety was invented in 1997 by Swiss viticulturist Jean-Laurent Spring at the Agroscope agricultural research centre in Pully, Switzerland.  The primary driver was to create a disease resistant variety for cool climates that would deliver a full-bodied red wine. This was achieved by creating a complex hybrid species of grape, with Divico being a cross of Gamaret and Bronner.  Garamet is crossed from Gamay and Reichensteiner, and Bronner is a crossing of various less known regional grape varieties which bring disease resistant characteristics. All of this mixed-up DNA has created a late-maturing PIWI variety which is extremely resistant to various fungal diseases such as powdery and downy mildew as well as Botrytis.  Divico tends to flower in early June and then produces fruit which ripens in mid-October, creating deep coloured, tannic, black fruit flavoured powerful wines. This all makes the variety extremely suitable to the UK climate and a great addition to the UK wine makers range of grapes. 

The story goes that the grapevine awas named after the Swiss national hero Divico (130-58 BC) who, as leader of the Celtic Helvetic tribe of the Tigurines against the Romans, won the battle of Agen in 107 BC. It’s good to see the grape coming back to its’ Celtic roots. So, if you’re looking for a quality red, that is easy to manage, then consider adding Divico to your vineyard. The Vinehouse UK, which specialises in PIWI grape importing will be happy to help you find the perfect vines.