vines are moderately winter hardy at geneva and trunk injury is occasionally a problem however chardonel is considerably hardier than chardonnay and nearly as winter hardy as its seyval parent in michigan it is rated as hardier than seyval and vidal blanc in 1981 following extensive winter cold damage at geneva vines of chardonel had 74 shootless nodes comparable with cayuga white 74 and vidal blanc 77 but worse than aurore 30 catawba 39 horizon 49 and concord 28 trunks of chardonel are susceptible to damage from low temperatures which may cause damage such as trunk splitting or provoke crown gall disease after 8 years at dresden n y under commercial practices suitable for growing interspecific hybird grapes 73 of 15 winter tender white riesling vines were defunct and 7 had trunk damage while 7 of chardonel vines had trunk damage and 7 were dead vines of cayuga white horizon aurore and concord had no trunk damage while 7 of 15 vines of vidal blanc had trunk damage flower of chardonel are perfect and self fertile with medium late bloom following late bud break clusters are shouldered and medium large 200 g averaging 1 6 clusters per shoot very little crop is borne on lateral shoots and cluster thinning is required only infrequently the amber berries are medium sized and spherical chardonel ripens between oct 1st and oct 15th in new york and michigan juice soluble solids and titratable acidity are usually higher than for cayuga white table 2 table 2______________________________________juice soluble solids and wine ph and acidity for chardonel and cayuga white grown at three locations ______________________________________ soluble solids phcultivar ny mi ar ny mi______________________________________cayuga white.