Even wine professionals are likely to know much less about individual
grape varieties than they think. Only those paying close attention to a new
branch of wine science will have noted the extraordinary discovery in 1996 that
the famous Cabernet Sauvignon vine, responsible for the grandest red wines in
the world such as Châteaux Lafite, Latour and Margaux, is in fact the natural
progeny of the distinctly less revered Cabernet Franc, and the grape variety
responsible for the white wines of Sancerre and Marlborough in New Zealand, the
pale-skinned Sauvignon Blanc.
In the past, grape varieties were identified visually. A handful of international experts knew enough about the exact shape of leaves, shoots and bunches to be able to spot, for example, a Lesser Spotted Vermentino in the vineyard. But now we can establish far more detail about the precise relationships between different varieties by analysing and comparing their DNA. It was while generating a database for the DNA profiles of the most important grape varieties in the Davis vine collection that John Bowers noticed that the DNA profile of Cabernet Sauvignon was perfectly consistent with its being an offspring of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. This was the first time anyone had identified the parents of a famous wine grape variety and it astounded us all. Before then, no one thought that a dark-skinned variety could possibly have a pale-skinned parent."
- Review of the new book Wine Grapes: A Complete Guide to 1,368 Vine Varieties, Including Their Origins and Flavours by Jancis Robinson
In the past, grape varieties were identified visually. A handful of international experts knew enough about the exact shape of leaves, shoots and bunches to be able to spot, for example, a Lesser Spotted Vermentino in the vineyard. But now we can establish far more detail about the precise relationships between different varieties by analysing and comparing their DNA. It was while generating a database for the DNA profiles of the most important grape varieties in the Davis vine collection that John Bowers noticed that the DNA profile of Cabernet Sauvignon was perfectly consistent with its being an offspring of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. This was the first time anyone had identified the parents of a famous wine grape variety and it astounded us all. Before then, no one thought that a dark-skinned variety could possibly have a pale-skinned parent."
- Review of the new book Wine Grapes: A Complete Guide to 1,368 Vine Varieties, Including Their Origins and Flavours by Jancis Robinson
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