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  • From: "Thomas Olenio" <tolenio@sentex.net>
  • To: "'North American Fruit Explorers'" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Strawberry grape
  • Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 10:03:25 -0400

 

Hello,

 

In Italy Fragolino is still made for local consumption (semi sparkling dessert wine).  It is known as “uva fragolla” or “uva americana” in Italy.  We know it as the Isabella grape.  Since it is not pure vinfera wine made from it cannot be exported from Italy.

 

Tom

 

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/qa2.asp

 

Isabella Grapes

 

I have a site about Silas McDowell (1795-1879) (http://www.rabun.net/~phillips)
an apple and grape grower who introduced many new apple
varieties and, late in life, became interested in viticulture.
I have been able to find little about a grape variety he
worked with - Isabella. He apparently obtained cuttings from
the Cherokees and tried to improve them. Do you know anything
about this grape variety?
Duane Phillips

Isabella (Vitis Labrusca var. Isabella) has a long history and questionable origin. U.P. Hedrick, in his 1908 work The Grapes of New York, lists it as a probable cross between Labrusca and Vinifera. It was originally secured by William Prince of Flushing, Long Island from Mrs. Isabella Gibbs, the wife of George Gibbs, a merchant then living in Brooklyn. Prince named it after Mrs. Gibbs and states in his 1830 Treatise on the Vine that Mrs. Gibbs had reported it came originally from the vicinity of Dorchester, South Carolina.

Nicholas Herbemont, in Southern Agriculture (1829), expressed doubts as to Dorchester being its origin. He found that it was only known there as a cultivated vine with a tradition of having been introduced by a gentleman then dead. There were various accounts of it having originated in North Carolina, Virginia, Delaware and Europe, but none of these were given any credence.

In the early days of American viticulture, Isabella was the grape of choice in New England, while in the South Catawba was favored because it better fit the longer growing season there. Isabella has been almost totally replaced in the North by Concord and other hardier and more productive Vinifera varieties and can only be found now in collections of experimenters, amatures and breeders.

Isabella has large, well formed clusters and attractive, deep black berries with thick bloom. The flavor is good but the thick skin and muskiness in taste are objectionable for the table. It has a lustrous green, ample foliage which remains late in the season, and these characteristics and its vigor make it an attractive ornamental suitable for arbors, trellises and porch supports.

It was introduced into Europe before 1830 where it was extensively cultivated for the manufacture of a low-grade wine, and Hendrick considers it quite probable that the phylloxera, which later decimated the vineyards of Europe, was introduced on the roots of the Isabella.

Isabella is generally classed as a pure Labrusca, but the evidence for it being a cross between Labrusca and Vinifera is strong but circumstantial. Among these are the shape of the berries, certain characteristics of the seeds, and the susceptibility of the vine to mildew and the berries to black-rot. Hybrids of it with Vinifera are usually worthless, lacking in vigor and hardiness. The Isabella X Vinifera progeny are so much more substandard than those of other pure American grapes X Vinifera that this further suggests a Vinifera lineage in Isabella. Such hybrids (Isabella X Vinifera progeny) usually bear a stronger resemblance to Vinifera than do offspring of other pure-bred American and Vinifera parents.

The thick skin adheres considerably to the pulp and is astringent. The flesh is pale green, sometimes with a yellowish tinge, and is quite translucent. It is juicy, fine-grained, tender but meaty, somewhat stringy, and is inclined to foxiness but is sweet to agreeably tart at its center. The pulp is slightly astringent when not mature and separates from the seeds with some difficulty. In winemaking, the must ferments best at 60-79 degrees F.

Varieties and synonyms of Isabella include Alexander, Black Cape, Cape, Captraube, Champania, Christie's Improved Isabella, Conckling's Wilding, Constantia, Dorchester, Framboisier, Garber's Red-Fox, Gibb's Grape, Hanover, Hensell's Long Island, Isabella d'Amerique, Lespeyre, New Hanover, Paign's Isabella, Payne's Early, Raisin de Cassis, Raisin du Cap, Raisin Fraise, Raisin Fromboise, Sainte-Helene, Saluda, Uva Fragola, Vernet, and Woodward. Isabella is possibly the grape referred to as Cherokee, Sandbornton and Schuylkill. Two once-notable varities of Isabella are Isabella Seedling (originated by G.A. Ensenberger, Sr.) and Isaraella (originated by Dr. C.W. Grant).

Because Isabella is no longer a commercially important grape, you won't find many (if any) modern references to it. Most of the literature in which I have found it mentioned is old and increasingly difficult to find. I mentioned Hendrick's The Grapes of New York (1908), Prince's Treatise on the Vine (1930), and Herbemont in Southern Agriculture (1829), but you might also try Alden Spooner's The Cultivation of American Grape Vines (1849) and Traite' General de Viticulture (in French, 6 volumes, Paris, 1903).

 

 


From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Lon J. Rombough
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2007 9:21 AM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Strawberry grape

 

"Strawberry" is a generic term in much of Europe referring to the taste of labrusca grapes. Uva Fragola may be a specific hybrid, but in many places it's often the old American "Isabella". Concord is often described as having a strawberry flavor in parts of Europe.
-Lon Rombough
Grapes, writing, consulting, my book, The Grape Grower, at http://www.bunchgrapes.com Winner of the Garden Writers Association "Best Talent in Writing" award for 2003.
For even more grape lessons, go to http://www.grapeschool.com
For growing supplies and more; http://www.grapegrowersolutions.com

On Apr 19, 2007, at 3:00 AM, Bassem Samaan wrote:

Now here's a grape that's popular in Italy as a dessert grape. In Italy it's known as "Uva Fragola" which translates to strawberry grape. According to an Italian freind that visits italy frequently told me that this grape taste more like a ripe strawberry.
A gardener in northern italy near Genova grows this grape. He mentioned that Strawberry grape is a hybrid between american and european grape. It's very vigorous and productive. Disease resistance as well, producing red color grapes. It's illegal to produce wine made from Strawberry Grape in Italy. I'm not sure why.
Here's a discription from a UK nursery source:
"STRAWBERRY GRAPE (also known as ‘Fragole’). This is an unusual variety, because its flavour is strawberry-like. The fruit is mauve and is very prolific either in greenhouse or indeed quite successful outside. Is a strong grower and makes good fruity wine."
Does anyone grow this grape in the US?
 
Bass
zone 6, Bethlehem, pa

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