minerals and light and heat — that encourage
complete but slow, gradual ripening. Those
conditions may or may not be realized in a
given year. Hence the significance for many
wines of the vintage, the particular year in
which the grapes are grown and harvested.
Some years yield better wines than others.
Hybrid and American Wine Grapes
The Eurasian wine grape Vitis vinifera has
a number of sister species in North
America with which it can breed, and over
the centuries plant breeders have produced
a number of different Euro-American
hybrids. These were generally denigrated
by European connoisseurs and bureaucrats
for their untypical flavors, but the better of
them, and American varieties themselves,
are coming to be appreciated for their own
qualities. They include grapes based on the
mainly northeastern Vitis labrusca
(Concord, floral Catawba, strawberry-like