Mark Chien, Pennsylvania state viticulturist has published an impassioned plea urging wine lovers to try new varieties of wines on Jancis Robinson's Free for All Pages.
Extract:
After growing grapes in Oregon’s Willamette Valley for 16 years my own palate was firmly entrenched in Vitis vinifera and, more specifically, Pinot Noir. So it was quite a rude awakening when I moved to Pennsylvania as the state viticulturist to be confronted by names like Traminette and Concord. But my own varietal epiphany came on a warm summer evening at Nissley Vineyards during one of their weekend summer concerts. Hundreds of people, mostly youthful in appearance, gathered to enjoy the music, food and wine. I could not help but notice that everyone was having a very good time and almost everyone was drinking sweet to semi-sweet wines of a hybrid or native variety. Mon dieu! These wines were providing as much enjoyment as any cult Napa Cab and at a much better price. The wine delivered exactly the experience that we all hope for – a perfect partner for good food, fellowship, conversation and fun. Would their experience have been enhanced if they were drinking an expensive wine? Are these pleasant folks drinking sweet hybrid wines any less a wine drinker than the Bordeaux consumer? I would argue no on both counts.
This revelation of varietal diversity is reinforced by my experience as a wine judge at regional competitions in the Eastern US and the Vinalies Internationales wine competition in Paris. In Paris it is not uncommon to endure overripe, overextracted, over-everything red wines whose harsh, dry tannins make them virtually undrinkable, alone or with food. On the opposite extreme it is excruciatingly difficult not to give a Concord wine of such great purity and vibrancy of flavour that it represents the grape as much as the colour blue is in the Hope Diamond or Crater Lake. Yes, it is possible to make (and enjoy) a great Concord wine.
There is a wonderful world of wine variety diversity out there and it is only the poor sods who fancy themselves as wine connoisseurs that are limited to the dozen or so socially acceptable varieties and even further restricted by the particular style that is currently in vogue. Wine has been part of human culinary and social culture for 9000 years when the Chinese made wine from hawthorn berries. Oh, did I forget to mention fruit wines? Try visiting Nashoba Valley Winery in Bolton, Massachusetts if you want to taste the subtle and delicious flavours of dry peach and varietal apple wines. They would be as comfortable on the dinner table as any overcropped Pinot Grigio or overoaked Chardonnay.
The grape breeding program at Cornell University has just released three new hybrid varieties, a white called Valvin Muscat and two reds called Corot Noir and Noiret. While not designed to replace classic vinifera varieties each has its own utility and character. These can be added to a list of varieties such as Cayuga White, Traminette, Chardonel which have all been established as commercial wine varieties in the US. There are thousands of grape varieties within the genus Vitis and many are obscure and limited to small wine growing regions around the world. But they are out there and ready to be discovered by the adventurous consumer. Access may be an issue but if you can’t travel to Greece or South Africa why not try looking closer to home?
See also the Penn State viticulture site.
but I didn't find this item as delightful as you did. My note from NiagaraCool:
