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The Diversity of Grapes
Why should we drink wines from indigenous grapes? It’s a fair question to ask. We at Vinalia cherish a great Pinot Noir or Cabernet as much as the next wine lover. But the wine world has so much more to offer than just a few name brand grapes. There are 10,000 grape varieties identified, but 33 of them comprise 50% of the global vineyard area; 13 grapes compose one-third.
Those 9,967 other grape varieties afford newfound understanding of wine’s shared history, stretching continents and spanning over 8,000 years from the Neolithic Age to the present. Many of them are considered indigenous or native grape varieties—grape varieties grown and generally localized near their place of origin, often in smaller quantities. The past 150 years have been a tumultuous time for indigenous grapes, but now we’re beginning to witness their renaissance.
The Evolving Vineyard
To appreciate the preservation of indigenous grape varieties, it is important to recognize how that diversity has been lost over the centuries. Before the mid-19th century, vineyards were generally planted in a much more chaotic fashion than what we observe today. The neatly manicured rows of vines planted to individual grape varieties are a fairly modern concept. Instead, for most of history vineyards were planted as field blends, meaning that a large smattering of different grape varieties were grown together in a single vineyard block—often whites intermixed with reds—and harvested in tandem. (Several wineries that continue to manage old field blend vineyards still don’t necessarily know the identities of each vine.) When a new vine was to be planted, the winegrower would simply bury an elongated cane of a neighboring vine. The tip of that cane would resurface as the trunk of a new vine, in a process called provignage.
Modern Vineyard
Example of "provinage," also known as "layering."
It is easy to imagine how chance seedlings could get lost in these disorderly vineyards. Grape varieties are born through cross pollination, in which the pollen from a flower on one vine travels and pollinates the pistil of the flower on another. The resulting berry from that flower will contain seeds that each hold the potential of a new grape variety. Should those seeds for whatever reason take root in contemporary vineyards, they are almost immediately discarded. Historically, however, under chance circumstance those vines might go unnoticed. Upon maturity, those vines might show unique and favorable qualities—disease resistance, yield potential, organoleptic character—and should their farmers take note, they may have been repropagated.
The Phylloxera Crisis of the 1800s
All of this changed in the mid-19 th century with the phylloxera crisis. Phylloxera is a louse that attacks the vines from their roots, killing them from beneath the surface. It is native to North America, but it was first observed in Europe in 1866 in France’s Rhône Valley, collateral damage from the great transatlantic horticultural exchange. The louse slowly spread across the continent over the ensuing decades. Eventually, an antidote was found by way of grafting European grapes onto native American vine rootstock, which are immune to phylloxera. By 1900, two-thirds of the French vineyard was replanted in such a fashion; today nearly the entire globe has been grafted as such.
A grape vine infected with phylloxera
Grafted grape vines
It was during these replants that much of the wine world’s diversity was lost and vineyards began to resemble their present form. A global shortage of wine led growers to favor high yielding grape varieties with strong disease resistance. In short, quantity was valued above quality. Vineyards were planted to individual grape varieties rather than complex field blends and the mechanisms by which new varieties would sprout were eliminated. Today, new grape varieties are instead strategically developed in labs. In the subsequent decades, local norms were codified into appellation laws, and grapes that were historically grown in a region may have been excluded from legally permitted blends.
The Dominance of Mainstream Grapes on the Global Vinescape
As the 20th century progressed, and new vineyard areas were developed around the world, the global wine industry consolidated its focus around a small quorum of largely French grapes. Cabernet Sauvignon is particularly noteworthy. New or newly modernized wine regions around the world from Napa, California and Maipo, Chile to Ningxia, China and Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley would earn their salt by proving their ability to bottle premium examples of the variety. Global palates became accustomed to Cabernet and Merlot and Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc so much so that they became ubiquitous on the world wine stage.
Reviving Lost Wines: A New Era of Discovery
Recent years has seen a shift back as new generations of winegrowers are rediscovering the value of their local indigenous grape varieties. Many of the challenges faced in the immediate aftermath of phylloxera are mitigated by modern vineyard practices. There are new approaches to vineyard disease and yield that renders the concerns of 19 th century winegrowers obsolete and demonstrate the commercial viability of a much larger sea of grapes. Forensic technologies were first applied to the wine industry in the 1990s and grapes that were long thought lost to history have now been genetically identified. Consumers, too, have followed with excitement in the discovery of new wines.
The Cultural Significance of Indigenous Grapes
To drink wine from indigenous grape varieties is to drink history. These grapes offer a window into our winegrowing past—a past that comprises millennia of winegrowing traditions. They are resilient, and today much research is devoted to the high potential of indigenous grape varieties in a changing climate. Several winegrowers and scientists alike believe that many of these grapes, coming from a wide range of geographies, are better adapted to climate change conditions than the most cultivated grapes.
We are privileged to live in a time where so many of these wines are available to taste once again, and for many on an international scale for the first time. But the preservation of these grapes and our enjoyment of them isn’t merely a matter of responsibility. The wines also unlock unique experiences with flavors and textures and expressions distinct from the vinous norm. What makes wines so exciting are the differences between them—the ability to tell the story of a place and a moment in time. With indigenous grape varieties, those stories only become more vivid.
Conclusion
In a world where wine enthusiasts yearn for authenticity and innovation, indigenous grape varieties offer a compelling narrative rich with history and potential. As advancements in technology and climate resilience pave the way for their revival, we are invited to explore the diverse tapestry of flavors and stories that these unique wines embody. Embracing these grapes not only honors our winemaking heritage but also enriches our palates with remarkable experiences that connect us to the land and its legacy.
