The vast majority of table wines today are produced by grapes grown on the vitis vinifera, the common (or European) grapevine. Viticulturists often cross-pollinate these grapes among the same species to strengthen crops, and such crossings can occur naturally. However, there are also a number of varietals that are produced by artificially cross-breeding certain grapes. Some examples of these hybrid grape wines include De Chaunac and Baco noir.
Much of the science of creating hybrid grapes was a direct response to an epidemic of phylloxera lice that destroyed many European vineyards in the late 19th Century. The louse first traveled across the Atlantic from North America, when grape growers in Europe decided to try their hands at growing native North American vines. Interestingly, these North American vines were both the cause of and solution to the phylloxera epidemic; since the louse was native to North America, those vines had long since developed a resistance. Viticulturists on both sides of the Atlantic worked to develop a European vine with grafted rootstock from North American vines, which did not interfere with grape production but discouraged the lice from breeding (at one of the insect’s life cycles, it secretes a toxin that kills the vine).
Today, there is a renewed focus on this type of “inter-specific” breeding in Europe, and the new varietals that occur from hybrid grapes provide a new adventure for wine enthusiasts. There are a number of qualities of such wines that have been considered undesirable for European palates, such as a high level of acidity or a distinctive “candied” aroma. However, the concern over another phylloxera scourge has made many vineyard owners at least consider the use of hybridization—a dead vineyard is likely a far more frightening prospect, after all, than a less popular wine varietal. Pest menace is not the only foe to be beaten back by hybridization. Some of the more recent hybrid wine grapes include Rondo and Regent grapes, which were designed not to fight phylloxera, but against winter frost and downy mildew.
Is there a hybrid grape wine you’ve experienced that you’d recommend to your friends, or even one that you have in storage in our cellars? Let us know, so we can share your find with our readers.
