Variety

Rhubarb Champagne

Its stems provide beautiful color as soon as they are picked, but you can encourage a gorgeous pink hue by forcing them or letting them ripen to a darker purple.

Fine in girth and medium length, it is often considered one of the best varieties of rhubarb to force and indeed, one of the best to grow from a general point of view.

Easy to grow and reliable to return with the same fruitful production every year.

Stalk color : Red
Origin : Angleterre
Year : Début-Mi 1800

Quotes about Champagne

Slender petioles are pink to bright red. A dessert type, particularly popular in the UK for making sparkling wine. Grown commercially in the UK in the early-mid-1800s.
Source : Horticultural Reviews, Volume 40 - Wiley-Blackwell - 2012, Thomas M. Gradziel, Kim E. Hummer, Paolo Inglese, 2012

Available to be harvested from April onwards, ‘Champagne’ is one of the earliest rhubarb varieties out there. Its stems offer up a beautiful colour whenever they’re picked, but you can encourage a gorgeous pink hue by forcing them or allow them to mature for a darker crimson. Slender in girth and medium-sized in length, they’re often regarded as one of the best rhubarb types for forcing and indeed, one of the best to grow from a general standpoint. Easy to grow and reliable to return with the same fruitful output each year. “When I am asked by someone who has never grown Rhubarb before what variety to pick, I recommend ‘Champagne’ due to its all-around performance and early harvest,” Dan says.
Source : Horticulture Magazine - UK Website, 2024

Of ALL the rhubarbs that we grew over the last 10 years, this variety was unique; it was very different from all the other rhubarbs that we grew. If I had to describe it in two words, I would say, early and feeble. Champagne is supposedly a sweet version of Rhubarb but not really – the acidity is mild compared to other rhubarbs but it will still twist your mouth! What I found was that on a cold miserable February day, everything is dormant in the garden but not Champagne Rhubarb! It would be poking up out of the ground and grow over the next few weeks into April. It would go dormant by June and not be seen again until the following February. In the first two years of cultivation, with such a long period of dormancy, I would dig into the pot to see what had happened to the plant, and find a healthy, dormant root. We no longer have any Champagne rhubarb growing at the Museum. To grow it, we had to get seeds from Great Britain.
Source : Garden Projects at the Museum - Our choice of vegetable to discuss is rhubarb, POMO Museum, Port Moody Heritage Society, 2024

Champagne — A splendid new variety of Rhubarb Sprightly flavored and fine for wine making 10 pkt
Source : Catalogue of high grade seeds, plants, bulbs & c., Graham Bros. 29 Spark Street, Ottawa, 1901

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