Alexander (grape)

Alexander
Grape (Vitis)
Color of berry skin	Noir
Species	Vitis labrusca × ?
Also called	See list of synonyms
Origin	United States

Alexander (also known as Tasker's Grape^[1]) is a spontaneous cross of vines from which the first commercial wines in America were made. It was discovered in 1740 in the neighborhood of Springgettsbury, Philadelphia, in a vineyard where James Alexander (d. 1778), Thomas Penn's gardener, had originally planted cuttings of Vitis vinifera in 1683. It was popularized by the Bartram family at Bartram's Garden, Philadelphia, and widely distributed after the American Revolution by William Bartram.^[2]

The Alexander grape is a hybrid grape of Vitis labrusca and another species, which may probably be Vitis vinifera.^[2]

History

In the 18th century and much of the 19th century it was impossible to grow European wine grapes in the open air in the eastern half of North America. The Alexander combined disease and pest resistance from North American grapes with some of the better qualities of European wine grapes. It was an acceptable grape for large-scale planting and wine production. The Alexander was the basis for the first successful North American wine industry over much of the east coast, in Pennsylvania in the 1790s, in Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, and in Indiana in 1806.

The Alexander grape may be extinct, and it is not known exactly if any live material of the variety still exists.

Synonyms

Alexander is also known under the synonyms Alexandria, Black Cape, Black Grape, Buck Grape, Cape, Cape Grape, Clifton's Constantia, Clifton's Lombardia, Columbian, Constantia, Farkers Grape, Madeira of York, Rothrock, Rothrock Of Prince, Schuylkill, Schuylkill Muscadel, Schuylkill Muscadine, Springmill Constantia, Tasker's Grape, Vevay, Vevay Winne, Winne, and York Lisbon.^[3]

Other grape varieties

Alexander is also a synonym of another American hybrid grape variety, Isabella. There is also a separate Alexander Winter grape variety.

References

↑ William Bartram, Account of the Species, Hybrids, and Other Varieties of the Vine of North-America, Medical Repository, (1804), vol. 7 [second series, vol. 1], p. 19-24.
1 2 Pinney, Thomas (2007). A History of Wine in America, Volume 1: From the Beginnings to Prohibition, University of California Press, 2nd ed. p. 85. ISBN 0-520-25429-5
↑ "Alexander". Vitis International Variety Catalogue. Retrieved 2010-02-02.

Hybrid grape varieties

Grape ( Vitis ) species	V. acerifolia V. adenoclada V. aestivalis V. amurensis V. × andersonii V. arizonica V. balansana V. barbata V. bashanica V. bellula V. berlandieri V. betulifolia V. biformis V. blancoi V. bloodworthiana V. bourgaeana V. × bourquina V. bryoniifolia V. californica V. × champinii V. chunganensis V. chungii V. cinerea V. coignetiae V. davidii V. × doaniana V. erythrophylla V. fengqinensis V. ficifolia V. flexuosa V. girdiana V. hancockii V. heyneana V. hui V. jacquemontii V. jaegeriana V. jinggangensis V. Kelungensis V. labrusca V. lanceolatifoliosa V. lincecumii V. longquanensis V. luochengensis V. menghaiensis V. mengziensis V. monticola V. mustangensis V. nesbittiana V. × novae-angliae V. palmata V. peninsularis V. piasezkii V. pilosonerva V. popenoei V. pseudoreticulata V. retordii V. riparia V. romanetii V. rotundifolia V. rupestris V. ruyuanensis V. shenxiensis V. shuttleworthii V. silvestrii V. sinocinerea V. × slavinii V. tiliifolia V. treleasei V. tsoii V. vinifera V. vulpina V. wenchouensis V. wilsonae V. wuhanensis V. xunyangensis V. Yeshanensis V. yunnanensis V. zhejiang-adstricta

Notable hybrids	Agawam Alexander Aurore Baco blanc Baco noir Beta Black Spanish Blanc du Bois Breidecker Cabernet blanc Cabernet Cortis Cascade Cassady Catawba Cayuga White Chambourcin Chancellor Chardonel Chelois Clinton Corot noir Couderc noir De Chaunac Edelweiss Flora Flot rouge Frontenac Goethe Herbert Himrod seedless Ives noir Jaeger 70 Kay Gray Kyoho L'Acadie blanc La Crosse Lakemont seedless Landal noir Landot noir Léon Millot Malverina Marechal Foch Marechal Joffre Marquette Massasoit Melody Merzling Muscat bleu Niagara Noiret Norton Olmo grapes Onaka Orion Phoenix Plantet Ravat blanc Regent Requa Rogers' Hybrids Rondo Royalty Seibel grapes Severny Seyval blanc Seyval noir Solaris St. Pepin Thomcord Traminette Triomphe d'Alsace Valvin muscat Vidal blanc Vignoles Villard grapes Zarya severa

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