A professor at the Missouri State University Fruit Experiment Station has discovered and patented a new grapevine cultivar.  

Dr. Wenping Qiu, director of the Center for Grapevine Biotechnology, was granted a patent for the Norton Blanc grapevine cultivar, a hybrid of the Norton and cabernet sauvignon grapevines. 

“We’re over joyful,” he said. “It’s one of the two most significant achievements we’ve made for society. The other being our former discovery of a new grape virus.” 

William H. Darr College of Agriculture Dean Dr. Melissa Bledsoe said the discovery is an exciting development that supports the grape and wine industry in Missouri and beyond. 

“This new grape is a great achievement of the unique breeding and evaluation work at the Fruit Experiment Station,” she said. “Dr. Qiu’s efforts have paid off and we are excited to have this new option for growers.”  

Why the Norton Blanc? 

According to Qiu, the Norton grape survives and grows extremely well under high disease pressure and deep-freezing conditions. Scientists wanted to introduce Norton’s good traits into a new grape that would combine the disease-resistance and cold-hardy traits and the favored flavors of the most widely grown grape, cabernet sauvignon. 

Turns out, it was a 20-year process. 

“We made the cross of Norton and cabernet sauvignon by pollinating Norton’s female flowers with cabernet sauvignon’s pollens in May 2005,” he said. “We planted 100 seedlings in 2006 and selected seven of them in 2011 for further evaluation.  

“After five years, we found one new grape, coded as NC-6, that’s very promising. We made the first vintage of wine in 2016.” 

Qiu added researchers asked a small circle of friends and colleagues to taste the wine for four vintages — and they all liked it.  

The team applied for the patent in September 2024, and it was granted just more than a year later.  

The patent  

Issued on Oct. 14 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the patent outlines the discovery as, “A new and distinct grapevine cultivar named Norton Blanc is provided. Norton Blanc was produced from a cross between ‘Norton’ and ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’ grapevines. ‘Norton Blanc’ produces a white berry that in turn is used to produce a unique and excellent white wine. Norton Blanc is distinguished by its production volume and consistency under the climate and soil conditions in the Midwest region of the United States, disease resistance, cold hardiness, and unique berry chemistry, among other characteristics.” 

The patent will expire on Oct. 14, 2045.