Royalty (grape)

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Royalty
Grape (Vitis)
Color of berry skinNoir
SpeciesAmerican Vitis hybrid
Also calledRoyalty 1390, California S 26, Kek Royalti and Royalti
Origin United States 1938
Original pedigree Trousseau gris × Alicante Ganzin
Pedigree parent 1 Trousseau gris
Pedigree parent 2 Alicante Ganzin
Notable regions California wine


Royalty (also known as Royalty 1390) is a rouge Californian wine grape variety that was developed in 1938 by Dr. Harold P. Olmo of the University of California, Davis. [1] The grape is a red fleshed teinturier which, unlike most red wine grapes, will produced red-tinged colored wine even without maceration time on the skins. The grape is a hybrid being produced from the Vitis vinifera Trousseau gris variety from the Jura wine region of France [2] and the teinturier grape Alicante Ganzin that, itself, is a hybrid of a Vitis rupestris variety and the Vitis vinifera grape Aramon. [3]

Contents

History

Royalty was first cultivated by Dr. Olmo in 1938 at the California Agricultural Experiment Station of UC-Davis but wasn't released for commercial use until 1958. It was released at the same time as Rubired another Olmo teinturier with Alicante Ganzin parentage. Like Rubired, Royalty was mostly grown in the Central Valley of California where it was used a blending grape to improve the color of red wines. However, Royalty showed itself to be more difficult to cultivate than Rubired and fell out of favor among many growers. While by the end of the 20th century there was still more than 6,000 acres (2,500 hectares) of Rubired in production in California there were only around 800 acres (320 ha) of Royalty in use. [2]

Synonyms

Among the synonyms that Royalty has been known as include California S 26, Kek Royalti and Royalti. [1]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alicante Bouschet</span> Variety of grape

Alicante Bouschet or Alicante Henri Bouschet is a wine grape variety that has been widely cultivated since 1866. It is a cross of Petit Bouschet and Grenache. Alicante is a teinturier, a grape with red flesh. It is one of the few teinturier grapes that belong to the Vitis vinifera species. Its deep colour makes it useful for blending with light red wine. It was planted heavily during Prohibition in California for export to the East Coast. Its thick skin made it resistant to rot during the transportation process. The intense red color was also helpful for stretching the wine during prohibition, as it could be diluted without detracting from the appearance. At the turn of the 21st century, Alicante Bouschet was the 12th most planted red wine grape in France with sizable plantings in the Languedoc, Provence and Cognac regions. In 1958, Alicante Bouschet covered 24,168 hectares ; by 2011, plantings represented less than 4,000 hectares. This scenario is largely reversed in other regions of Europe, and in southern Portugal, where its wines are highly prized and frequently outscore traditional autochthonous varieties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trousseau (grape)</span> Variety of grape

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<i>Vitis labrusca</i> Species of grapevine

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teinturier grape</span> Variety of grape

Teinturier grapes are grapes whose flesh and juice is red in colour due to anthocyanin pigments accumulating within the pulp of the grape berry itself. In most cases, anthocyanin pigments are confined to the outer skin tissue only, and the squeezed grape juice of most dark-skinned grape varieties is clear. The red color of red wine comes from anthocyanins extracted from the macerated (crushed) skins, over a period of days during the fermentation process. The name teinturier comes from French, meaning to dye or to stain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harold Olmo</span> American viticulturist and professor

Harold Olmo was an American viticulturist and professor at the University of California, Davis where he created many new grape varieties known today as Olmo grapes. In the 1950s, he helped to establish California's first quarantine facility on the UC Davis campus to permit California growers to import foreign vines. This led to an expansion of California's wine industry as more Vitis vinifera was introduced to the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aramon (grape)</span> Variety of grape

Aramon or Aramon noir is a variety of red wine grape grown primarily in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France. Between the late 19th century and the 1960s, it was France's most grown grape variety, but plantings of Aramon have been in continuous decline since the mid-20th century. Aramon has also been grown in Algeria, Argentina and Chile but nowhere else did it ever reach the popularity it used to have in the south of France.

Couderc noir is a red wine hybrid grape that was formerly grown primarily in the South West France wine region and around the Gard département in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. The vine produces high yields and ripens late, creating a wine that is deeply colored with a distinct, earthy flavor. Couderc noir is normally used for mass commercial and table wines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Noir de la Calmette</span> Variety of grape

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Flora is the name of two unrelated varieties of grape, one white and one red, both of United States origin.

Alicante Ganzin is a red French wine grape variety. Unlike most Vitis vinifera wine grapes, Alicante Ganzin is a teinturier with dark flesh that produces red juice. Most varieties used to produce red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, etc., have clear color flesh and juice with the wine receiving its color through a maceration process where the color seeps out of the grape skins for as long as they are in contact with the juice. Alicante Ganzin can thus produce light red and rose colored wine without maceration. It is believed that Alicante Ganzin is often described as the progenitor of all French teinturier grapes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olmo grapes</span> Variety of grape

Olmo grapes are wine and table grape varieties produced by University of California, Davis viticulturist Dr. Harold Olmo. Over the course of his nearly 50-year career, Dr. Olmo bred a wide variety of both grapes by means of both crossing varieties from the same species or creating hybrid grapes from cultivars of different Vitis species.

Petit Bouschet is a red teinturier grape variety that is a crossing of Aramon noir and Teinturier du Cher created in 1824 by French grape breeder Louis Bouschet at his vineyard in Mauguio in the Hérault department. The grape was used by Louis' son, Henri Bouschet, to create several more varieties including Alicante Bouschet, Grand Noir de la Calmette and Morrastel Bouschet. Petit Bouschet saw a surge of plantings in the late 19th century as France recovered from the phylloxera epidemic where it was often used to add color to blends made from hybrid grapes and other high yielding varieties. As its offspring Alicante Bouschet became more popular, plantings of Petit Bouschet fell off and the grape is now hardly found in France.

Cascade is a red complex hybrid grape variety that was created by French viticulturist Albert Seibel in the early 20th century in Aubenas, Ardèche, in the Rhône Valley. It has been commercially available in North America since 1938 and has since been planted in Canada and the United States. However, in warmer climates the grape is highly susceptible to a number of grapevine viruses, which has discouraged plantings of the variety.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ives noir</span> Variety of grape

Ives noir is a red hybrid grape variety that is grown throughout the United States. Named after its propagator, Connecticut wine grower Henry Ives, the grape's pedigree and exact origin are unclear. After Prohibition in the United States, Ives was a popular grape used in the production of sweet port-style wines but saw its plantings steadily decrease throughout the 20th century as the vine's susceptibility to air pollution took its toll.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muscat bleu</span> Variety of grape

Muscat bleu is a red Swiss wine and table grape variety that is a hybrid of Garnier 15-6 and Perle noire. The grape was developed in Peissy in the Canton of Geneva by Swiss grape breeder Charles Garnier in the 1930s. Today the grape is used as both a table grape and for winemaking, producing wines that Master of Wine Jancis Robinson describe as "soft and grapey". Outside Switzerland some plantings of Muscat bleu can also be found in Belgium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">L'Acadie blanc</span> Variety of grape

L'Acadie blanc is a white Canadian wine grape variety that is a hybrid crossing of Cascade and Seyve-Villard 14-287. The grape was created in 1953 by grape breeder Ollie A. Bradt in Niagara, Ontario at the Vineland Horticultural Research Station which is now the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre. Today the grape is widely planted in Nova Scotia with some plantings in Quebec and Ontario. Some wine writers, including those at Appellation America, consider L'Acadie blanc as "Nova Scotia’s equivalent to Chardonnay".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vitis 'Ornamental Grape'</span>

Vitis 'Ornamental Grape', also known as ornamental grapevine, Ganzin glory, glory vine and crimson glory, is a nonfruiting ornamental plant that is a hybrid of Vitis vinifera and Vitis rupestris.

References

  1. 1 2 Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) Royalty Archived 2016-04-17 at the Wayback Machine Accessed: August 17th, 2012
  2. 1 2 J. Robinson Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes pg 161 Oxford University Press 1996 ISBN   0198600984
  3. J. Robinson Vines Grapes & Wines pg 226 Mitchell Beazley 1986 ISBN   1-85732-999-6