Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/235941
Grapegrowing Vitis Hybrids: History and Current Status Hybrid cultivars were key to the rapid changes in eastern and central vineyards during the 1970s By Paolo Sabbatini and G. Stanley Howell T he full story of Vitis hybrids should involve biological sciences of genetics, plant pathology and physiology, entomology, soils, social sciences, economics, political science and that collective form of individualism we call nation- Great Lakes region of the eastern United States. This is the first article in a two-part series, and it will address the history of hybrid grapes and their current status in the United States, while a second article will focus on hybrid grapes in Michigan and the outlook for those grapes in the future. The grape and wine industry in the eastern U.S. is growing at a steady pace (see Figure 1 on page 136). In the early 1970s most of the grapes cultivated and wines produced were cultivars native to the Americas (Vitis labrusca such as Concord, Niagara, Catawba and Delaware). By 2010, the key grapegrowing states in the eastern U.S. had shown a historical change that was driven by factors mainly related to market demand and cultivar evolution through university and private grape-breeding efforts. Several trials, public and private, demonstrated that numerous hybrid cultivars were able to ripen in a short season and were sufficiently cold hardy to survive the winter in several existing viticultural regions. Prime environmental factors for alism. It's impossible to address all of those topics in this space, but we hope to pick a thread that runs through these and reflects the history, current status and suggestions for future as a focus on the experiences of the authors in the state of Michigan in the Wine East HIGHLIGHTS • rapevine hybridizers wanted to find G rootstocks compatible with European soils where Vitis vinifera were grown as well as develop vines with disease tolerance and the wine qualities of vinifera. U niversity of M innesota Peter Hemstad bred La Crescent at the University of Minnesota to be super cold tolerant. The hybrid variety tolerates winter minimum temperatures to -35ºC. • ne unintended consequence of hybridO ization was the improved cold hardiness of the subsequent Vitis selections. This allowed cultivars to be grown outside established, delineated wine districts— and at lower cost. • In the mid-20th century, grapes grown in the Great Lakes region shifted from labrusca to hybrid varieties capable of producing good table wines. Hybrid varieties now play a significant role in the economic sustainability of the wine industry in cold-climate regions. Win es & Vin es JA N UA RY 20 14 135