User:Tomas e/History of grape varieties

Outline of article:

• Oldest record of plant cultivation methods that preserve varieties.
• Oldest known named grape varieties (Greece?)
• Main grape varieties of the Roman Empire.
• The difficulty of knowing if any ancient grape varieties (other than Muscat?) are identical to later-known varieties.
• Very little details known of early Medieval European viticulture
• Classical grape varieties known from the (late) Medieval age; role of monks and church wineries in selecting good ones.
• Some of the more common "cluster" of varieties/related pedigrees (according to DNA studies)
• Viticultural background of natural crossings being created in older vineyards; field blends, provignage, and less tidy vineyards.
• Grape varieties "travelling" already in Medieval times
• Grape varieties in the New World; use of American grapes i North America, some identities being lost or corrupted
• Changes in grape variety mix of regions known from the 17th & 18th centuries
• Effects of Phylloxera epidemic
  • Breeding of rootstock
  • The practie of grafting moving almost all vine propagation away from vineyards to nurseries
  • Interest in hybrid grapes
  • Large changes in planted grape varieties
• The early era of new breeds - vitifera and hybrid - intended for high production, followed by much less interest.
• Later new breeds - better disease resistance, cold climate viticulture (German reds), breeding conducted in fewer places
• Popularisation of grape varietal names by New World (US) producers
• The phenomenon of international grape varieties leading to much standardisation across countries
• The ABC movement (also slow food?) and creation of good wines from local/regional varieties in many countries
• Scientific advances in description and identification of grape varieties
  • Classical ampelography
  • DNA typing, Carole Meredith and UCDavis
  • Results from DNA typing, identical grape varieties, misidentifications, pedigrees
  • Many unsupported myths about the origin of grape varieties still being spread

Origin of grape varieties

The basis of preserving the properties of cultivated grape vines is grafting, which is known to have been practiced already in Ancient Greece.

Antique grape varieties

Named grape varieties are known from Ancient Rome and the works of writers such as Strabo, Columella and Pliny the Elder. Although these works contain the latin names of the varieties and overall descriptions, none of these descriptions are detailed enough to allow certain identification of current-day varieties with these. In the Medieval era, the latin names were no longer used.

References

History Category:History of wine