Vitis labrusca, the fox grape, is a species of grapevines belonging to the Vitis genus in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The vines are native to eastern North America and are the source of many grape , including Catawba, Concord grape, Delaware, Isabella, Niagara, and many hybrid grape varieties such as Agawam, Alexander and Onaka. Among the characteristics of this vine species in contrast to the European wine grape Vitis vinifera are its "slip-skin" that allows the skin of the grape berries to easily slip off when squeezed, instead of crushing the Juice vesicles, and the presence of on every node of the cane. Another contrast with European vinifera is the characteristic "foxy" musk of V. labrusca, best known to most people through the Concord grape.
History
According to wine historian
Edward Hyams and wine expert
Jancis Robinson,
Vitis labrusca was probably the species seen by
Leif Ericsson growing wild along the coast of
Vinland in the 11th century. There is ample evidence that the
labrusca was growing wild in North America before Europeans arrived. The vine was not officially identified and recorded until
Carl Linnaeus and his peers started cataloging American vine species in the mid-18th century. In the 19th century,
Vitis labrusca was among the American vines transported to
Europe that were carrying the
phylloxera louse that caused widespread devastation to the European vineyards planted with
Vitis vinifera.
Also in the 19th century, Ephraim Bull of Concord, Massachusetts, cultivated seeds from wild labrusca vines to create the Concord grape which would become an important agricultural crop in the United States.
Vine characteristics
The majority of
Vitis labrusca grape varieties are red, although white varieties such as Niagara and "pink-skinned" varieties such as Catawba have dark colored berries high in phenolic compounds that produced strongly flavored wines. As the berries near harvest and become fully ripe, they separate easily from the pedicel (berry stem). If the berry is squeezed gently between two fingers, the thick skin will slip easily off leaving the pulp intact as a ball. This trait gives
Vitis labrusca the name of "slip skin" grapes. Another trait of
labrusca that aids
ampelographers in identification of vines and hybrid varieties descended from the species is the large, thick leaves of the vines that have a hairy underside with dense brown or white hairs.
Like many other American vine species, Vitis labrusca has some natural resistance to many grape diseases, including phylloxera. However, its resistance and grafting compatibility is not as high as that of other species, such as Vitis aestivalis, Vitis rupestris and Vitis berlandieri, and it is not often used for commercial rootstock.
Wine regions
Vitis labrusca is located along the eastern seaboard of
North America from
Nova Scotia down to Georgia and westward to the Mississippi River. Among American Viticultural Areas (AVA)s that produce wine from
labrusca or hybrids derived from
labrusca include Alexandria Lakes, Upper Mississippi Valley, Mississippi Delta, Ohio River Valley, Southeastern New England, Lake Erie as well as several AVAs in the states of New York, Virginia, Ohio, Michigan and
Minnesota wine.
In the Canadian Province of Ontario, the use of
Vitis labrusca varieties is not permitted by the VQA regulatory and
appellation system, except for Vidal, a hybrid grape varietal.
Unlike vinifera, hybrids and Vitis labrusca varieties can better withstand the severe continental conditions of eastern North America with severely cold winters and hot, humid summers. (However, labrusca doesn't do quite as well as varieties like Vitis rotundifolia in the humidity of southeastern US). In fact, in areas of the United States where vinifera does flourish in the west, the conditions during the growing season are often too arid for labrusca vines.
"Foxy" musk
According to University of California, Davis
viticulture expert A. J. Winkler, outside of the
vinifera Muscat family of grapes,
Vitis labrusca varieties have the most pronounced aromas among wine grape varieties. The description "foxy" has come to serve as a catch-all term to describe the unique, earthy and sweet muskiness that can be perceived in fresh Concord grapes as well as
grape juice made from Concord and other
labrusca varieties like Niagara. In the 1920s, scientists were able to isolate the
aroma compound responsible for the "foxy" musk as methyl anthranilate.
See also
External links
