Where did they come from?
Mystery varieties with diverse origins
Where Do Grape Varieties Come From?
REMINDER: I am writing a book Beyond Shiraz covering all 200 or so of the winegrape varieties used in Australia. Some of the obscure varieties have interesting background stories.
By the way, have you organised getting your name in my book? 1
Next Taste and Talk: Thursday 16th January at 5pm. Topic Rosé wine.
Adam and Eve Stories about Wine
Aucerot
Aucerot at Bailey’s Glenrowan vineyard was planted from cuttings obtained from Europe in the early 1900s.
The origin and identity of this white variety is obscure. Attempts to identify it as one of the existing varieites inn Eupore have drawn blanks. It is likely that there was only one vineyard with vines of this variety in existence.
Aucerot is not the same as the French variety Auxerrois, despite the similar name. It seems likely that the variety is now extinct in Europe.
I remember buying a couple of bottles of ‘Auslese Aucerot’ from Baileys Glenrowan about 1980. It was a desert-style wine that aged very well.
The Aucerot vines at Bailey’s vineyard were removed in the 1980s. Some cuttings were taken and planted at Ciavarella’s Oxley Estate in the King Valley. Aucerot was used alone and in blends to make dessert wines and a white port style.
More recently, Oxley Estate went out of business and the Aucerot vines have been returned to Bailey’s. There is also a small planting of Aucerot at the El Dorado vineyard in the Beechworth wine region.
We don’t seem to know this variety’s parentage, but it seems certain to be a variety of Vitis vinifera.
Crystal
This is a mystery wine with an interesting story. It is best known as the most planted variety in the Yunnan province in China. In Jancis Robinson’s Wine Grapes (2012) Crystal was thought to have an American origin. Its characteristics seemed to be consistent with being a hybrid of the European V.vinifera species and a North American species V.lambrusca. In Wine Grapes, it is hypothesised that it may have got to China from Europe, or perhaps directly from USA
Since the publication of the Wine Grapes book, the story takes an interesting Aussie twist. Brad Hickey owber if Brash Higgins became interested in the vines in a neighbour’s vineyard in McLaren Vale. The owner of the vineyard, of Greek heritage, said that the vines were from his ancestral region of Zitza in NE Greece. Brad wanted to follow up on the exact identity of the variety and had DNA samples analysed.
They were surprised to find that it was Crystal, a variety previously only associated with China.
Brad says
This grape variety has now been registered with Wine Australia.
At Brash Higgins we make a pet nat with ours, about 15% Chenin added. Tastes a bit like beer/wine and cider collided: lots of yuzu, apples and pears, but not foxy2, thankfully.
Cygne Blanc
This variety arose from a seedling vine in a Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard in the Swan Valley region of Western Australia. The variety is grown by the Mann vineyard in the Swan Valley, and there is a larger planting near Robe in South Australia.
Although both parents of the original seedling are probably Cabernet Sauvignon, the grapes are white. Cygne Blanc contains a different assortment of genes to Cabernet Sauvignon and obviously misses at least one of the genes responsible for the development of skin colour-forming. Remember one of Cabernet Sauvignon’s parents is Sauvignon Blanc. Cygne Blanc is used to make a sparkling wine by Mann in the Swan Valley.
Most old varieties originated as seedlings of chance crossings in vineyards which were recognised as having good viticulture or winemaking characteristics. All of the subsequent vines of the new variety are propagated asexually from this single vine.
Mystique
In contrast to the accidental genesis of Cygne Blanc this variety was deliberately bred by the CSIRO. The variety Mystique has a pedigree which includes Cabernet Sauvignon and four other V. vinifera (common grape) varieties. It was selected for its high colour in berry skin and flesh, in addition to good fruit composition and heat tolerance.
The name of the variety come from the locality of Mystic Park, in Northern Victoria. There’s not much there apart from the pub. Brown Brothers, based in the King Valley Region have a large vineyard nearby, But this is in the Swan Hill Wine Region. It is uncertain whether this variety has a commercial future despite its excellent name. I have just confirmed that Bassham in the Riverland have Mystique in their vineyard.
CSIRO have bred several varieties over the past few decades with limited success. Of these, Cienna seems to be the most commercially viable one so far.
So there it is. Four varieties with different Adam and Eve stories. Have you tried any of these varieties? Leave a comment.
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Next Taste and Talk: Thursday 23rd January at 5pm. Topic Rosé wine.
Grapes with Vitis lambrusca in their ancestry often have off flavours which are referred to as ‘foxy’. Not all hybrids show this, some much worse than others.
Fascinating reading. The only variety I’ve tried is Aucerot, In fact I haven’t heard of the other 3 varieties. It was a long time ago but I feel it was from Booths, (Taminick now) both dry and sweet styles.
Cygne Blanc from Benson Rise. From memory it was a pleasant but not oustanding drop.