Skip to main content

Cornell's Plant Variety Programs

Since the early 1900's, Cornell has carried out traditional plant breeding programs in a number of crops. As this site develops, we will offer substantive content on Cornell's plant breeding programs. Our site will offer not only brief features but also tools for consumers and breeders alike to access material transfer agreements, testing agreements and commercial licenses.

The features below describe some of our more successful plant varieties that appear in grocery stories, in bottles of wine, or on our tables.


Corot noir™ - Wine Grape

  1. 'Corot noir'™ is a mid to late season red wine grape suitable for either blending or the production of varietal wines. The Corot Noir™ is a complex interspecific hybrid resulting from a cross in 1970 between Seyve Villard 18-307 and Steuben. The wine has a deep red color and attractive cherry and berry fruit aromas. Its tannin structure is complete from the front of the mouth to the back, with big soft tannin feel. The vine is moderately winter hardy and moderately resistant to fungal diseases.

  2. Currently the Corot Noir™ is licensed to a number of local Finger Lakes wineries. Additional licensing may be obtained at CCTEC.
  3. Licensing Contact: Richard Cahoon
More >>

Traminette - Wine Grape

  1. The Traminette wine grape was developed by Dr. Bruce Reisch, Cornell's grape breeder, in cooperation with enology professor Thomas Henick-Kling in 1996. It is a cold-hardy, disease resistant grape that produces a white wine of high quality. Traminette wine has a spicy aroma that is reminiscent of Gewurztraminer, one of its parents. However, Traminette is more cold-tolerant than Gewurztraminer, and is better suited to cold climate viticultural regions. Traminette wine is made in dry and sweet styles. It ages well, developing honey and apricot flavors in two to five years.

  1. Traminette wine is made by the following Fingerlakes wineries:

    It is also produced at wineries in Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, Nebraska, and New Jersey.

  2. Traminette has been very well received by the premium wine industry. Traminette wine has won awards at the 2005 North Carolina State Fair and the 2006 Finger Lakes International Wine competition. The Arbor Hill Grapery of Bristol Springs, NY, won Double Gold at the 2008 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition for its 2005 Classic Traminette.

More >>

Caledonia Wheat

  1. Caledonia is a soft white winter wheat developed by Cornell's small grains breeder, Dr. Mark Sorrells, Chair of the Cornell Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics. Released Caledonia in 1998, Caledonia is a very successful and popular wheat variety, especially in New York, Michigan, and southern Ontario, Canada. It is an exceptionally high-yielding wheat with superb milling and baking qualities.

  2. Gorwers in Michigan should contact our co-exclusive licenses, Harrington Seeds and Platinum Genetics. Growers in other areas may contact CCTEC.
  3. Licensing Contact: Richard Cahoon

L'Amour, a June-bearing strawberry

  1. L'Amour, a mid-season strawberry was developed at Cornell at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY. The strawberry's number is NY1829 and has excellent fruit quality with berries that are bright red and firm but not hard, with excellent eating quality and flavor and was introduced in 2004.

    In a replicated matted row strawberry in Geneva, the harvest season of the L'Amour was two to three days later than similar varieties with significantly larger fruit size averaging 12.3 grams. The firmness and bruising ratings were superior after six days at one degree Celsius. L'Amour has no resistance to red stele or verticillium but no significant problems have been noted to date.

  2. Currently the L'Amour is exclusively licensed to the Stargrow Nursery.