The red grape variety originates from the USA. Synonyms are Arkansas, Cynthiana as second main name (especially in the state of Arkansas), Norton's Seedling, Norton's Virginia Seedling, Norton Virginia, Red River, Virginia, Virginia Seedling and Vitis Nortoni. Along with Catawba, Concord and Scuppernong, the hybrid is one of the most historically important American vines. It was named after Dr. Daniel Norborne Norton (1794-1842), a physician and horticulturist from Richmond, Virginia, who discovered, selected and propagated it around 1820. At that time, it was suspected to be a cross between varieties of the species Vitis labrusca x Vitis vinifera. Since there were Miller's Burgundy vines (Müllerrebe = Pinot Meunier) near the place of discovery, this was assumed to be the parent for the time being. A similar vine called Cynthiana appeared much later only towards the end of the 19th century. For a long time, it was considered to be independent, until finally in the early 1990ies, Cynthiana and Norton were found to be identical. DNA analysis in 2009 then determined the true parentage to be Vitis aestivalis x Vitis vinifera, although the European variety was not Pinot Meunier, but possibly a seedling of Enfariné Noir. Norton was a crossing partner of the new varieties Albania, Cabernet Diane, Cabernet Doré, Hopkins, Crimson Cabernet, Gold Coin, Kentucky, Norton White, and Zinthiana.
Norton introduced the vine to the public in 1835. It was described as Norton's Virginia in 1876 by Hermann Goethe (1837-1911) and in 1885 by August-Wilhelm Freiherr von Babo (1827-1894). It was widely planted in the Midwest and Eastern United States until Prohibition. It became popular there as "Cabernet of the Ozarks" (the Ozark Plateau is a mountainous area in Arkansas and Missouri). A wine called "Virginia Claret" from the Monticello Wine Company (historic estate of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson) won a gold medal in 1873 in Wien as "Best Wine of All Nations" and a silver medal in 1878 in Paris. At the height of the phylloxera disaster in the second half of the 19th century, it was used in France to restore devastated vineyards, but this failed because of the vine's intolerance of lime.
The vine is moderately susceptible to downy mildew, as well as resistant to many other fungal diseases and also to frost down to minus 26 °Celsius. It is well suited to pebbly and sandy soils, but very sensitive to limestone soils. The variety yields spicy red wines similar to Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel, very rich in tannins and high in the antioxidant resveratrol, with aromas of red fruits and sometimes a subtle foxtone. It was therefore named "Cabernet of the Ozarks" (the Ozark Plateau is a mountainous area in Arkansas and Missouri). Starting in the 1990s, there was a true renaissance. It is now grown in the Northeast and Midwest in many states in the US on a total of 250 acres. These include Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. There are 0.5 hectares planted with it in Australia and 77 hectares in Brazil under the name Cynthiana. In 2016, a total of 328 hectares of vines were reported (Kym Anderson statistics).
Source: Wine Grapes / J. Robinson, J. Harding, J. Vouillamoz / Penguin Books Ltd. 2012
Images: Ursula Brühl, Doris Schneider, Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI)
