Life Style / Wine Grapes / Catawba: This historically important variety is reportedly a N. Carolina chance seedling, selected prior to 1807, that originated in the Piedmont region of that State and was named after the nearby Catawba river. An American (ie. thought to be a V.labrusca x V.vinifera hybrid) red slipskin grape, it is commonly used to produce sweet white, red and rose' wines distinguished by a so-called 'foxy' aroma component in cases where modern winemaking techniques fail to remove/mitigate the agent responsible. A late-season ripener, giving medium size berries having a dull purplish-red skin, it may fail to properly do so unless grown in areas with a long growing season. Has some susceptibility to fungus diseases. An excellent keeper, lasting until March, it is also popular as a Table grape. Commonly grown in the Eastern U.S. and Canada on favorable sites, thriving on sand, gravel or clay soils with good drainage, humus content and bottom heat. New York state wineries produce large amounts of sparkling wine from this variety. Its high acid profile can be modified by blending with other suitable labruscana derived red wines such as Rougeon. Also quite popular when made into an ultra-sweet 'ice-wine' from frozen grapes.
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Lifestyle / Wine Grapes / Vinered: Developed and released in 1964 by the Vineland Horticutural Research Station at Vineland, Ontario, Canada. Reported to be a Brockton x Self clonal crossing. Fruit clusters are large-very large, with b MORE