Important French vineyard in Saint-Vallier on the Drôme in the Rhône valley, founded by the breeder Bertille Seyve (1864-1939) and his father-in-law and partner Victor Villard. Later, their sons Bertille Seyve Jr. (1895-1959) and Joannes Seyve (1900-1966) were also active in the business. Here, from the end of the 19th century onwards, over a hundred new French varieties were developed by crossing American vines or hybrids with European vines. These were mostly hybrids of the so-called second generation, as hybrids of the French breeder Albert Seibel (1844-1936) were used as crossing partners in many of them. The grape varieties were mostly named with the company name (Seyve, Seyval, Seyve-Villard or Villard) and a consecutive number, some of them were later given a sounding name. Numerous hybrids were also created under the name Joannes Seyve plus a serial number as the basis for new varieties. The most famous creation was given the name Chambourcin (JS 26-205).
The most successful Seyve-Villard varieties, some of which were in turn crossing partners for other varieties, are Dattier de St. Vallier (SV 20-365), Garonnet (SV 18-283), Pierrelle (SV 20-366), Roucaneuf (SV 12-309), Seyval Blanc (SV 5276), Seyve-Villard 12-286, Seyve-Villard 12-481, Seyve-Villard 18-402, Valerien (SV 23-410),Varousset (SV 23-657), Villard Blanc (SV 12-375) and Villard Noir (SV 18-315). The American viticultural pioneer Philip Wagner (1904-1996) from Maryland was largely responsible from the 1940s onwards for the spread of many of these varieties along the entire east coast of the USA in many states. At the end of the 1960s, the vineyards in France still amounted to about 60,000 hectares, but due to EU regulations (ban on hybrids) they were almost completely cleared. In England, Japan and the eastern USA, however, some are still widespread today because in cool areas the early-maturing vines, which are mostly resistant to frost and fungal diseases, are of great advantage. See also under PIWI and and quality wine grape varieties.
