🍇 Medina

Medina is a Hungarian red wine grape and an interspecific hybrid. It was crossed in 1959 by József Csizmazia and László Bereznai at the Kőlyuktető research station for viticulture and enology in Eger. According to VIVC, the station belonged to the University of Horticulture and Food Industry. According to VIVC's DNA markers, its parents are the French hybrid Seyve-Villard 12-286 and Médoc Noir.

Hungary's National List of Varieties (NÉBIH) includes Medina among red wine grapes, state-registered in 1984. The variety is undemanding about soil, relatively resistant to fungal diseases, does not rot and tolerates frost well. It ripens in the first half of September and crops heavily — 11–12 t/ha; the bunches are medium-sized, about 120 g. According to VIVC, the flowers are hermaphrodite and the berries contain fully formed seeds.

VIVC's 4 synonyms include Medea, Egri csillagok 7 ("Stars of Eger 7") and the abbreviations EC 7 and Ecs 7. The catalogue gives no area table for the variety, but samples of Medina are kept in 25 collections. In 1973–1997 Hungary had 181.5 ha of it — 0.23 % of all the country's vineyards.

Why it matters to you. Medina makes a dark, intensely aromatic red wine with notes of vanilla and clove; Hungarian descriptions also mention a decent rosé. This Hungarian hybrid combines resistance to disease and frost with a distinct aroma. If a label or a nursery catalogue says Medina or Medea, it is the same variety.