Regent
The style profiled here is a dry, medium-bodied red Regent wine: dark, soft, cherry, disease-resistant. Typical alcohol is 12 to 13.5%. Serve it at 14 to 16 °C.
Also called Geilweilerhof 67-198-3.
The grape
Regent is one of the most successful of the modern disease resistant crossings, bred at the Geilweilerhof institute in Germany in 1967 and authorised for commercial planting in 1996. It combines European vine parentage with an American and Asian derived resistance to downy and powdery mildew, which allows a substantial cut in spraying.
It spread quickly in Germany, and also into England, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands, where the short season and the damp summers make fungal disease the central problem of growing. It ripens early and gives a genuinely dark red, which was an attraction in countries whose reds tend to be pale.
Two things have slowed it. The wine has a marked character of its own, dark and slightly herbal with a cherry and blackberry fruit, that some drinkers find rustic, and the resistance has weakened in places as mildew adapts to it. Newer resistant varieties have taken some of its ground. It remains the standard by which the class is judged, and German plantings are still substantial.
BuyingBuy it from Germany or England as a dark, food friendly red at a modest price. Expect a herbal note, and drink it within three or four years.
Style profile
Our rating of a representative wine- Sweetness
- Bone dry
- Body
- Medium
- Tannin
- Medium
- Acidity
- Medium
Sweetness and structure vary with the producer, region and winemaking. These ratings describe the style above; check the label for the bottle in front of you.
Food pairings
Where it grows
- Notable regions
- RheinhessenPalatinate
Explore its wine regions
Similar grapes
Sources
- Facts: Wikipedia, Regent (grape) (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikidata Q1361972 (CC0).
- Variety record: Vitis International Variety Catalogue, VIVC 4572.
- Style profile, pairings and serving figures are our own assessment.