AMPELOGRAPHY

AMPELOGRAPHY= Field of Botany Concerned With Identifying and Classification of Grape-Vines Species.

  • Historically/ Traditionally Done by Comparing the Shapes and Colors of the Vines Leaves, Grapes and Shapes of Clusters. Recently the Study of Ampelography Has Been Revolutionized by DNA. Finger-Printing.
  • –Etymology– From Greek Words…Ampelos…Meaning- For Vine…Grape…Meaning-For Describe

HISTORY OF AMPELOGRAPHY– Before 1800’s Vine Description Was Poor and Not Really a Focus In the Wine World.  People Wrote Mainly About Grape Aptitudes or Qualities of the Different Varieties. After a Series of Disease and Parasites In Europe it Become Necessary to Study Species Varieties For Their Resistance and Susceptibility to Theses Events.

DISEASE AND PARASITES THAT LEAD TO ADVANCED AMPELOGRAPY

  • 1852- Powdery Mildew
  • 1863- Phylloxera
  • 1878- Downy Mildew
  • 1885- Black Rot
  • **Refer to For Detailed Information On These Topics

PIONEERS–

  • ~Pierre Galet~ Identification/ Teaching of Vine Root-Stock and Grape Varietals
  • ~Carole Meredith~“California“,Grape Geneticist, and Professor at UC. Davis
  • ~Henri Bouschet~ “French“, Early Grape Hybridizer
  • ~Herman Muller~ “German“, German Crossing
  • ~Dr. Harold Olmo~ UC. Davis Championed New Crossing of European Varietals
  • ~Elmer Swanson~ Crossed Grape to Produce Hybrid

VARIETAL= Refers to a Single Specific Type of Grape with it’s Unique Characteristics

  • Variety Refers to a Type of Grape, Varietal Refers to the Type of Grape In Bottle

Grape Varietal Identification Makers

**These Are Historical Methods, Now Identified by DNA.

  • Growing Tip– Grouping of Tiny Young Leaves, Still Unopened and Pressed Together, Located at the Tip of the Shoot During  the Growing Perieo
  • Grape Vine– Fuzzy, Hairless, Shinny, Cotton-Like
  • Leaves– Shape of Lobes/ Fingers, Shield, Solid, Thick/ Thin
  • Petiolar Sinus– Space Around Stem or Leaves
  • Clusters/ Bunches Shape–
  • Berries–
  • Grape Color–
  • Shoots & Canes-

**All Grapes Classified Under White/ Black Heading Unless I Possess Knowledge of a More Detailed Color to Classify Them Under

WHITE (W)- General Term For All Grapes Not Considered Black
WHITE= Yellow, Light Green, Green, Dark Green, Gold
BLACK (B)- General Term For All Grapes Not Considered White
BLACK= BLue, Red, BUrgundy, Purple
MID-COLORED (M)- Between Black & White (Rouge, Rose, Gris)
TEINTURIER (T)- Grapes Whose Flesh and Juice is Red In Colored From Anthocyanin Pigments Accumulation Within Pulp

Possible Relationships Between Vines

  • Parent-
  • Off-Spring/ Progeny
  • Sibling- -Half Sibling-
  • Grand-Parent-
  • Grand-Son-
  • Uncle-

COMMON DENOMINATOR of VARIETALS

  • Multivariate Relationship Among Accessions Revealed 16 Genetic Group Structured Into 3 Groups Supporting the Classical Eco-Geographic Grouping of Grape Cultivars…Occidentalis, Pontica, Orientalis
  • Grapes Have Identity Markers That Show Inheritance
  • Most Classic Wine Grapes Have Identifiable Parents. Some Parents Can Never be Identified Because the Parent Grape Has Been Lost In Antiquity.
  • Variety is What Type of Grape it is, Varietal is What is In the Bottle

     “One Grape is Either a Progenitor to Another Grape or a Sub-Type of Another With a Clonal Distinction.”

PROGENY= Descendant of a Person, Plant or Animal Off-Spring
ECO-GEO-GROUP=
PEDIGREE= A Record of Decent of a Plant or Animal Showing to Be Pure Bred
-Recorded of a Line of Progeny or Ancestor
HYBRIDIZATION= Achieved by Applying Pollen of Male Parent With Brush to Emasculated Female Receptive Stigma Which Subsequently Grows

  • Vines Highly Heterozygous…Refering to a Pair of Genes Where One is Dominant and One is Ressive.

“European Looked Down On Hybrids Until it Became Evident That Grafting On American Rootstock Could be the Answer to Phylloxera Issue.”

  • PHILOSOPHY– “Can We Trace the Evolutionary Trail of Vitis Venifera From It’s Beginning Origins Through its History of Splitting Into Different Major Progenitors Across Multiple Continents and Countries Into the 2,000+ Grapes Varietals That Make Up the Wine World Today?”
    • Yes, The First Appearance of a Vine Later Named Vitis Vinifera Sylvetris Appeared 200-Million Year Ago. All Grapes Today Are Descended From This Single “Vitis Vinifera” Wild-Grape Variety. The Caucasus Mountains In Mesopotamia(Now Georgia) Are Origin of Vitis Vinifera. Over Time Vines, Wines and Viticulture Spread South Down the Tigris River and Euphrates Rivers to the Larger Cities of the Earliest Civilizations of Babylon and Persia(Now Iran). This Area Became Center of Ancient Grape Growing World. Eventually Wine Spread to Egypt, Who Introduced Wine to Greece, Who Introduced Wine to the Romans, Who Introduced Wine to the Rest of Europe, Who Introduced Wine Throughout the Modern New World.

**Refer to “BIBLIOGRAPHY/ SOURCES” For Details On Scholarly Works Referenced