So what exactly are Vitis Vinifera grape varietals? One columnist takes a stab at explaining, plus adds in a nifty mention of Grand Junction and Palisade in the process.
Under the headlines, "From the Mailbag" Journal Inquirer Eugene Spaziani writes:
Q. From time to time, I have read and heard the term “Vitis Vinifera” regarding grapes and expect that it is a technical term. In order to clarify this term for me, could you explain what it is?
— D.F., Windsor Locks
"A. Vitis vinifera is the ancient Latin term for vines whose grapes produce juice that ferments into wine. Vitis vinifera originated in the Near East when man domesticated wild vines, but its numerous varieties and clones are most widely diffused in Europe, where four-fifths of the world’s wine is made."
"Such vines are grown in the temperate climate zone, generally between the 30th and 50th parallels in the Northern Hemisphere and the 30th and 40th parallels in the Southern Hemisphere. Altitude is a key factor. In most countries, vines thrive at 800 to 1,600 feet above sea level. Vineyards are rarely planted higher than 2,000 feet, but there are exceptions, such as Italy’s alpine Valle d’Aosta and parts of Chile, where vines are regularly cultivated at 4,000 feet. In Colorado’s Western Slope region of Palisade and Grand Junction, vineyards are planted at more than 4,000 feet above sea level with excellent results."
"Soil composition and texture influence the character and quality of wines. Grapes from vineyards in sandy or siliceous terrains often produce wines of fresh flavors and aromas to be drunk young, while those from calcareous clay soils made wines that are richer in body and better suited to aging."
"Vineyard positions are important. For most wines of quality, hillsides are better than plains, since day-night temperature variations essential to developing aromas are greater at the heights. In cool zones, vines on south-facing slopes benefit from full exposure to the sun, so grapes ripen earlier. They also need to be well ventilated to prevent mold."
You can read the rest of the Q&A column here.
Monday, February 16, 2009
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6 comments:
What a wonderful blog with terrific pictures! Almost makes this Florida girl travel to the "cold" country .. lol!
Denise
http://WineFoodPairing.blogspot.com
It's only cold for part of the year. Summers are plenty warm. And we have 300 days of sunshine a year. It's what makes our local grapes grow so fast. I recommend a late spring/early fall visit, as the weather is pitch perfect and why people move to the Grand Valley!
Vitis Vinifera are the traditional european grape roots which are succeptable to phyloxera, the bacteria which live in a symbiotic relationship with native american grape root stocks. When native american grapes were shipped to Europe in the late 1700s it took less than 30 years for the bacteria to totally destroy vast majority of vines in all of France, Italy and Spain. Today European wine grape growers, and most growers in the world have their grapes grafted to native American root stock. To my knowledge, only in South America and COLORADO are European grape varities aka Vitis Vinifera still grown on European Grape stock, aka Vitis Vinifera roots. Phyloxera has never affected these unique climates for grape production.
Carminera., a grape now famous from South America was once one of the 5 Bordeaux blending grapes, Phyloxera caused it's extinction in Europe. It survived in South America thanks to the plantings of the French Hugonauts, the Johnnie Appleseeds of wine grapes in the new world.
Anyway thats my 2 cents on whats important to know about Vitis Vinifera as it relates to us here in Colorado.
Peace Love and Be Well,
Mark
BookCliffVineyards.com
Sommelier/Sales
Thanks for the info, Sommeliermark. The original rootstock of the vitis vinifera grapes does well in two of the highest elevation grape growing regions in the world, in the Rockies and the Andes. I think the cold winters and high altitude kill off the phyloxera, correct? Thanks for dropping by the blog. Keep those posts coming!
Regarding high altitude and cold winters... That Phyloxera is killed off by cold winters and high altitude is the somewhat unproven theory at present. The curiosity is that French Vinters and Viticulturalists took their best surviving grapes over the Pyrenees and the Alps into Spain and Italy bringing the phyloxera with them. So it survived the altitude, and it killed in the Piedmont region, so it seems to be cold hardy. It's still a mystery of sorts why we are blessed with unblighted Vitis Vinifera.
SommelierMark
Sommelier /Sales
BookCliffVineyards.com
If it's not altitude and cold, maybe there's a microbe in the soil in the Americas that is a natural predator of phyloxera, thus keeping it in check. But it's great that Colorado does its part in preserving so many heirloom varietals of Vitis Vinifera. Another reason that makes the area unique.
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