Check out this article.
In the 1800s and 1900s, France outlawed modern grapes, due to the power of the vinifera grapegrowers' lobby. (They didn't appreciate the threat that the new grapes represented to the old ways.) But modern grapes don't need to be sprayed for mildew, and they have resistance to phylloxera, and these are powerful reasons to grow them. Check out my book Modern Grapes for the Pacific Northwest, for the full story.
