It likely appeared at the end of the Cretaceous period, more than 65 million years ago. It is believed that viticulture developed about 8,000 years ago with the first Middle Eastern civilizations, particularly in Transcaucasia, enabling the transformation of the wild vine, Vitis sylvestris[1], into a domesticated version that interests us: Vitis vinifera[2]. There are many other species, but this one includes the major grape varieties cultivated today around the world and sought after for their organoleptic qualities.
A grape variety is a type of grape. Each variety has its own specific characteristics in terms of cultivation, quality, resistance (to growing conditions), sensitivity (to diseases), and aromas. The science of identifying and describing grape varieties is called ampelography, a word formed from two Greek terms: ampelos (vine) and graphy (writing). In France, we have renowned ampelographers: Pierre Galet (who passed away in 2019), Jean-Michel Boursiquot from the University of Montpellier, who are contemporaries, but also Victor Pulliat, who classified grape varieties in the 19th century by their ripening period, Pierre Viala, often considered the father of modern ampelography, and Louis Levadoux, who in the mid-20th century began classifying grape varieties by family based on their ampelographic similarities, with more recent DNA research often confirming his accuracy.
How many grape varieties exist in the world? It’s a question I often ask, and the answer is always far off the mark: “Twenty, fifty, a hundred?” In reality, there are nearly ten thousand! Even more astonishing: more than twenty-four thousand names are used worldwide to refer to these ten thousand grape varieties! The same grape variety can therefore have a different name depending on the country. This complicates things for us.
Let’s take a few famous examples: Zinfandel, a red grape variety widely grown in California, was long thought to be native, until in 1994, DNA analysis[3] confirmed what researchers had already suspected: it is identical to Primitivo from Puglia and Tribidrag, an old Croatian grape variety. Another example is Chenin blanc from Anjou, introduced to South Africa in the mid-17th century during the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which forced the Huguenots to flee to Protestant lands. Over the centuries, its origins were forgotten, and in South Africa, Chenin was called Steen and considered a native variety (it is twice as prevalent there as in France), until its true identity was rediscovered in the 1960s.
Closer to home: in the Southwest of France, Malbec is also called Côt, Cot, Pressac, Auxerrois, and Malbec. All at once! This makes things complicated but fascinating!
There are many ways grape varieties reproduce. First of all, grape varieties mutate (a word that has become all too familiar nowadays). This occurs when a plant produces a branch, leaf, or fruit that deviates from the norm—an anomaly. This can give rise to a new variety. For example, Pinot Noir is a very old grape variety, whose presence in Burgundy is suggested as early as the 1st century[4]. Over time, it likely mutated into Pinot Gris, which then mutated into Pinot Blanc. Meunier, on the other hand, is a “cottony” mutation of Pinot Noir, named for its downy leaves. Similarly, Lledoner pelut is a “hairy” version of Grenache Noir, another grape variety with vast progeny.
Moreover, until the end of the 19th century, grape varieties were mixed together, coexisting and cross-breeding. As a result, many ampelographic families have emerged: the carmenets, descendants of Cabernet Franc; the noiriens, descendants of Pinot and Gouais Blanc[5], which likely gave birth to Chardonnay, Gamay, Melon de Bourgogne, to name just a few; and the serines, linked to Syrah.
The most famous union is that of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc, which probably occurred spontaneously in the vineyards of Médoc in the 17th century, giving birth to Cabernet Sauvignon, the most famous grape variety in the world. This discovery, made by researcher Carole Meredith from the University of Davis in California, revolutionized wine research in 1997. This makes Merlot its half-sibling, born a century later.
The origin of Syrah, a major Rhône grape variety with an exotic name, has inspired many legends. Some claimed it came from Syria, or perhaps from Shiraz in Iran, or even from Syracuse in Sicily, supposedly brought back by wine-loving knights during the Crusades. In 1998, science revealed that it is indeed French, resulting from a spontaneous cross between the old Ardèche variety Dureza Noir and the white Savoie variety Mondeuse Blanche. Its siblings (if you will) are Roussanne and Marsanne, with Viognier as a distant relative. Such different grape varieties, yet akin, just as brothers and sisters can both differ and resemble each other.
Today, as you walk through vineyards, everything is orderly, with Merlot on the right and Cabernet on the left, and one dare not court the other! Our winemakers have become matchmakers. This transition from mixed planting to a defined order emerged with the industrialization of viticulture after the major crises of the late 19th century. Successive crises, starting with powdery mildew in 1850, then phylloxera, and later downy mildew, necessitated both the use of grafted rootstocks and the increasing use of systematic sanitary treatments, leading to a new, more “rational” vineyard organization.
These crises also opened up research into hybridization, i.e., creating new varieties by crossing two species of Vitis (interspecific hybridization) or two grape varieties from the same species of Vitis (intraspecific hybridization). Interspecific hybridization arose out of the urgency to combat phylloxera, a small traveling insect that devastated our vineyards, coming straight from the United States, against which our European vines were not immune. Soon, it was discovered that American grape varieties, derived from other Vitis species, and responsible for introducing phylloxera to France, were also resistant to it. After infesting our vineyards, they eventually became their saviors. They were crossed with Vitis vinifera, benefiting from the resistance of one and the quality of the other. Many hybrids emerged from this research: Baco Blanc (the only hybrid of this type still allowed in France), Seibel, Jacquez, Vidal Blanc, and more.
Intraspecific hybrids, sometimes called “crosses,” aim to pass on the cultural and organoleptic qualities of both parents to the new grape variety. Unfortunately for researchers, this process often proves costly and time-consuming, and the results are rarely conclusive, as grape varieties, like humans, pass on both their strengths and weaknesses to their offspring! A famous example is the South African Pinotage, created in 1925 by Abraham Perold from a cross between Cinsault, once called Hermitage in South Africa, and Pinot Noir. This grape variety still divides both consumers and producers today, but is considered the quintessential South African grape. In France, we can mention Marselan, a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache Noir, which has gained some success in Languedoc.
This multitude of grape varieties, often from the same ampelographic family, has frequently caused confusion. For years, Chile exported Merlot worldwide, only to later discover it was actually Carmenère, a Bordeaux grape (another descendant of Cabernet Franc) introduced to Chile at the end of the 19th century. In the 1980s, during the height of “Chardonnaymania,” South Africans, thinking they were introducing Chardonnay, actually introduced Auxerrois, a much less sought-after variety!
However, this incredible diversity is threatened by a much less appealing fact: among this multitude of grape varieties, only about fifty supply 80% of the world’s wine production. This means there is a risk (already underway) of impoverishing grape diversity. In France, the appellation system helps protect this diversity and ensure its survival. Indeed, to qualify for an AOP, a producer must adhere to strict specifications, which include the grape varieties allowed.
Consumers, particularly the so-called Generation Y[6], are showing increasing interest in “forgotten” grape varieties, an interest in line with the trend for natural wines, biodynamics, and wines that respect the notion of “terroir”.
The phylloxera crisis complicated ampelographic research, as some grape varieties did not survive and disappeared from the viticultural landscape. We must ensure that globalization and the homogenization of tastes do not take care of the rest!
Article written by Annabelle Mispelblom Beijer, wine expert at WiSP
[1] Du latin sylva, la forêt.
[2] Qui fait du vin !
[3] Carole Meredith UC Davis.
[4] Columelle.
[5] Cépage ancestral aujourd’hui presque disparu.
[6] « Millenials » ou « Generation Y » ou « Gen Y » regroupe l’ensemble des personnes nées entre le début des années 80 et la fin des années 90
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