It seems a lot of wine lovers equate 'American grapes' with Labrusca. Labrusca grows in the US Northeast, not in Texas. The most famous labrusca, Concord, was bred in Massachusetts. While many Americans grow up with Concord grape juice, and love it, the wine it produces is famous for its unpleasant 'foxy' taste, which I describe to my friends as 'a sniff of kerosene'.
A month ago, some of my grape breeding friends were lamenting this, quoting supposedly well read individuals and suggesting ways of meaningfully correcting them. These comments greatly troubled me. I've heard them myself, and it wounds my Texas pride. Lubrusca won't even grow in my part of Texas.
To some degree, I blame 'French American' vines for this sad state of affairs. Early French crosses with native American vines focused on labrusca and an extremely healthy American cross from Missouri, 'Jaeger 70'. Jaeger 70 was created gy by Hermann Jaeger of Neosho, Missouri. Its parents were vines from two different wild American varieties: Lincicumii and Rupestris. Lincicumii has very large clusters and large berries. Rupestris is very sweet. Together, you get a relatively sweet, healthy vine that resists a variety of American pests that were rampaging through France when it was bred in the 1880s. When crossed with European vines, the progeny could ignore the invading American pests, and produced a passable wine.
Unfortunately, the Missouri Lincicumii imparted a smoky twang to it descendents for generations. Personally, I don't like it. It isn't as bad as labrusca, but I avoid it. Some people like it. It just isn't my style. Still, I've got several of its descendents in my vineyard. They are very healthy, but my idea is to stick with non-tang specimens, of which several varieties of wild Texas and European grapes provide many fine examples. Trying to grow grapes in the Texas heat, and every grape disease known to man isn't easy. The descendents of Jaeger 70 were the first vines I grew that liked it here in Glen Rose, Texas.
Hopefully, you are catching my drift by now. New England Labruscas make wines that remind me of kerosene. Missouri vines are better, but still remind me of a smoky cigar (which some like a great deal). Let me get to the point, native American wines get better the closer you get to Texas.
To help me spread the good news, the idea of 'Tex-French' vines came to mind, and I posted something here about it 2 weeks ago. I liked the contrast between 'Tex-French' and 'French American'. It is a bit ironic and romantic for Texans. For a few years, Texas was part of France, and we like to remind Northerners our roots are different than theirs. There is already a 'Tex-French' cuisine here, and heck, we saved the French wine industry 100 years ago, so its sort of a family thing.
To help bring Texas grapes to the attention of future wine lovers, I wanted to create a label that clearly differentiates North-Eastern US viticulture from Texan viticulture.
Here is the idea:
1. 'Tex French' has nothing to do with Lubrusca, nor anything to do with Jaeger 70.
2. 'Tex-French' vines were bred in France between 1880 and 1940.
3. The American side of the pedigree is entirely Texan.
So, why haven't you heard of the great native Texas vines?
Fortunately, the brave French grape breeders 100 years ago crossed a number of wild Texas vines with their local vines.
Unfortunately for these new vines, the stout Frenchmen doing all this grape, lived in a place where wild Texas grapes never got enough heat to ripen. Southern France is as far north as Philadelphia. Sweet Texas vines produced 'sour grapes' if grown in New York or France. Texas grapes were dismissed. The only purpose they were thought suited to was root-stock. Their fruiting capabilities were ignored. A status they still suffer.
Here are some examples:
41B Millardet (Female)
Fercal (female, crosses already in vineyard)
Montpellier 333 EM (Male)
Richter 99 (Male)
Ruggeri 140 (Male)
Possible example (The vine likes it here in Texas, but the North American side's source is unknown)
1202 Couderc (Perfect)
Alicante Ganzin (Perfect)
Ganzin #1 (AxR1) (Male)
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