Viticulture and Wine Science - Horticulture: Plants for People and Places - page 194

Fig. 7.1 Wild grapevines
using trees to support their
growth towards the sun in
North Carolina (USA)
and is called V. vinifera ssp sylvestris . These wild races are widely distributed over
southern Europe and western Asia from Spain to France to Tajikistan. They inhabit
the evergreen vegetation belt along the Mediterranean and thrive as climbers along
the Caspian and Black Seas.
Vitis vinifera is one of the oldest cultivated plants for which living progenitors
still exist. Within the genus Vitis , there are three natural groups based on geography.
They include the North American group (25-30 species), the European group (1
species) and the Eastern Asian group (25-30 species). The exact number of grape-
vine cultivars used commercially varies in the literature between 1,200 and 1,500
globally. The single European species, Vitis vinifera , has contributed most to viti-
culture around the world, particularly for the production of winegrapes.
The movement of grapes from areas of domestication to the various western Eu-
ropeans countries led to the establishment of “Old World” countries such as Spain,
Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, and various Balkan and North Africaxn countries.
These countries are still today the leading wine exporters. Colonisation movements
(1500-1800 ad ) introduced winegrapes to what is now called the “New World”
countries such as the USA, Chile, Peru, Argentina, South Africa, Australia and New
Zealand. These industries are still vibrant today (Fig. 7.1 ).
In addition, winegrapes were introduced to China in 128 bc by General Zhang
Qian, but remained unpopular until recently. Nevertheless, the low adoption is com-
pensated by the large population and China is now firmly established as a wine