Botanists have never agreed as to whether Vitis vinifera is a single species or a combination of two or more species which has been cultivated for so long that it is impossible to discover the original forms. The name, Vitis vinifera, is usually credited to Linnaeus though it was used for this grape before Linnaeus’ time by Bauhin and possibly by others. The description of Linnaeus accompanying the name is very short, as follows: Leaves sinuately lobed, glabrous. Many of the earlier botanists, Tournefort for one, described numerous varieties as though they were species. As a natural corollary of the uncertainty of the botanical status of Vitis vinifera the original habitat of the species is not positively known. De Candolle, as noted in the first part of this work, considered the region about the Caspian Sea as the probable habitat of the Old World grape. There is but little doubt that the original home of Vitis vinifera is some place in western Asia. There is strong corroborative evidence of this in the fact that the climatic conditions under which the species flourishes are such as are there found.
The first chapter in The Grapes of New York has been devoted to this, the Old World grape, and for a discussion of the horticultural characters of the species and of the efforts to cultivate it in America, the reader is referred to that chapter.
Neither American nor European writers agree as to the exact climate desired by Vinifera for the reason, probably, that all of the varieties in this variable species do not desire the same conditions. There are certain phases of climate, however, that are well agreed upon, as follows: The species requires a warm, dry climate, and is more sensitive to change of temperature than our American species. Stayman, who had had considerable experience in raising Vinifera grapes in different places, says: Vinifera “will not endure much rain or grow on wet land. It is only in a dry climate and on high rolling situations that it will succeed, where there is not more than 31 inches of an annual rainfall and for the growing and maturing season 15 inches.” So far as soil alone is concerned, the French growers tell us that it can be grown successfully in a wide variety of soils, being much less particular in this respect than our American species. They state that it will withstand and grow successfully in soils so strongly impregnated with lime that any of the American sorts would succumb to chlorosis.
There are certain characters connected with the fruit of this species which are peculiar to it and are not found in any of our American sorts. First, the skin, which is attached very closely to the flesh and which is never astringent or acid, is of good flavor and can be eaten with the fruit. Second, the flesh is firm, yet tender, and uniform throughout, differing in this respect from any of our American sorts, which frequently show a sweet, watery and tender pulp close to the skin with a tough and more or less acid core at the center. Third, the flavor is peculiarly sprightly, a quality known as vinous, because it characterizes this species. It may be said in this connection, however, that many Americans, accustomed to American grapes, prefer the flavor of our native sorts to the vinous flavor of the Old World grape. Europeans invariably, and Americans who live in Vinifera raising sections, usually, deem the Vinifera flavor greatly superior. Fourth, a strong adherence of the berry to the pedicel, the fruit never “shattering” or “shelling” from the cluster.
Varieties of Vinifera have been selected for the making of wine through so many centuries that this species has become the first and great wine-making grape. Whatever the future may hold in store for American grapes, there is no question but that at present the Viniferas are far superior to any native Americans for wine-making purposes, both as to quality in general and the number of kinds of wine which can be made.
The weak points of Vinifera are: First, an inability to withstand the cold of our winters. The different varieties of Vinifera undoubtedly vary considerably as to the exact amount of cold they will stand without injury. All of them tried at this Station freeze to the ground even in the mildest winters. Second, foliage particularly susceptible to the attack of mildew and fruit susceptible to the attack of black-rot. Third, they generally require a ripening season much longer than our climate affords. Fourth, the roots are soft and spongy and very liable to the attack of phylloxera, though they apparently penetrate more readily in dense clays and hard dry soils than any of our American species.
In the various hybrids that have been made between American and Vinifera varieties it is usually found that the desirable qualities of Vinifera are taken in about the same proportion as the undesirable ones. The fruit is improved in the hybrid but the vine is weakened. Quality is purchased at the expense of hardiness and disease-resisting power. Vinifera may be grown very readily from cuttings. This is of little cultural importance, however, as both in Europe and America varieties of the species are usually grafted on phylloxera-resistant stock.