The white grape variety originates from the USA. It is an open-pollinated seedling of the Taylor variety. According to this, the father variety is unknown. It was named after Noah who, according to the Bible (Gen. 9.21), became a vine grower after landing with the ark on Mount Ararat and planted the first vine. Synonyms are Belo Otelo, Charvat, Flaga Alba, Fraga, Noa, Noah Bianca, Noé, Nohan, Noka, Nova, Nove, Otelo Belo and Tatar Rizling. Genes of the American species Vitis labrusca and Vitis riparia, as well as Vitis vinifera are included. The selection of the hybrid was made in 1869 in Illinois-USA by Otto Wasserzieher. It was then distributed by Bush & Son & Meissner from Missouri. Noah was a crossing partner in the new varieties Baco Blanc, Baco Chasselas and Totmur. It is also used as a rootstock.
The medium-maturing vine is resistant to various fungal diseases and black rot. It yields a white wine with foxy. It arrived in Europe during the phylloxera disaster and was very widespread in France, mainly along the Loire. In the 1930s, it was banned there because of its allegedly high methanol content. In Austria, the variety used to be used for the local speciality Uhudler, but is now not permitted within the European Union for the production of quality wine. It is used as wine grape, table grape and also as rootstock. There are areas under cultivation in Italy, Moldova (200 ha), Portugal and Spain as well as in the USA in New Jersey. In 2016, a total of 200 hectares of vineyards were designated under the name Noah (Kym Anderson statistics).
Pictures: Ursula Brühl, Doris Schneider, Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI)
