Modern varieties of winegrapes continue to make inroads

The rise of modern varieties of winegrapes* continues:

Here is a good article describing how much a panel of wine lovers in California liked wines made from Marquette grapes in many northern states (Marquette was developed to prosper in cold climates).

The list of modern variety winegrapes that make good wine is growing. Each grape performs differently in different soils and climates, but for the PacNW, such a list might include (but is by no means exclusive--there are others, too):

Whites: Cayuga (and this one may be head and shoulders above the others), Interlaken, Traminette (if it ripens quickly enough), Esprit, Briana, Jupiter, New York Muscat (the last two make Muscat-style whites)

Reds: Leon Millot, Marechal Foch, Regent, Cascade, Burdin 6055, Noiret

Notes:
1. These are crosses of Vitis vinifera (French winegrapes, which have great flavor for wine) and American grape species (which have more disease resistance and which ripen earlier). It is old-fashioned crossing--putting the pollen of one grape on the uva (egg) of another, and a few years later you find out what you've got (because it takes a few years for a grape to mature enough to bear fruit). Sometimes (including lots of additional crossings--each of which takes more years) a terrific new variety is developed.

2. Some call the modern varieties "hybrids," but that term  is perjorative to some people, as "hybrid" is a synonym for "bastard," "crossbreed" and "mongrel." Hey, we are all mongrels but the term is negative.

3. Why the push for modern varieties of winegrapes? Because they are so "green." They don't require fungal sprays (unlike vinifera, which require so much spray that Europe is considering regulating their spraying. Even if the grower uses organic sprays, it still requires a lot of tractor fuel to apply all those sprays). They ripen earlier, which is an advantage in the PacNorwest (it's more likely to beat the Fall rains and it can even sometimes avoid the predations of birds, without having to install nets).

4. I choose not to grow Marquette because it has very high acid and thus is much more work in the winery. Ditto with Baco Noir.

hardly food

I'm eating red seedless grapes from the grocery store, in the month of May. I shouldn't be, and neither should you:

1. Taste: There is none, unless "insipid" is a taste. Please don't think that all table grapes taste like this. This bunch was picked green and they don't ripen off the vine.
2. Torture: Most seedless grapes are sprayed with gibberellic acid, to make the berries bigger. I don't know if that acid is OK for us, and for the ground, or not. It just seems weird to me.
3. Travel: In May, most ripe seedless grapes in the US come from the Southern Hemisphere. Think of all the jet fuel it takes to move tons of (unripe) grapes from Chile to the US. That is a LONG way.



You do have to wait until the late summer and fall, but then you can get wonderful French-American hybrid table grapes locally. If you know where to look, or what to grow for yourself, just look at the benefits:

a. A wide variety of grapes, each with a unique and bold flavor.
b. Many of those are seedless (though seeded grapes are much healthier for us (good roughage/fiber, and the grapeseed oil is very healthy) and with a little practice you can either just eat the seeds or chew them first and then swallow). And many of the seedless hybrid table grapes are large, without the need for an acid spray.
c. High disease resistance, which means no or little spraying for fungal diseases. I don't spray any of my hybrid grapes. Talk about "green" gardening! And if you have a lot of grapevines, you save a ton on unused/unbought tractor fuel to power all that spraying. That is double green.
d. Ripe fruit give you much more disease-fighting chemicals (resveratrol; flavonoids; antioxidants; vitamins), which lets you live longer, so you can eat more grapes!

I wish for all of us a world in which we can eat more locally-grown, riper, fruit. There is no reason to give in to the major corporate forces that are trying to dumb down the quality in your food life.