Olmo grapes
Encyclopedia
Olmo grapes are wine
and table grape varieties produced by University of California, Davis
viticulturist Dr. Harold Olmo
. Over the course of his nearly 50 year career, Dr. Olmo bred a wide variety of both grapes by means of both crossing varieties from the same species or creating hybrid grapes
from cultivars of different Vitis
species.
Over 30 new grape varieties were created by Dr. Olmo and introduced to the California wine
and table grape industries.
is the most notable and widely planted Olmo grape. It is a crossing between the Vitis vinifera
varieties Cabernet Sauvignon
and Carignan that was first trailed by Dr. Olmo in 1936 before being released in 1948. The grape is primarily used as a blending component, adding color and tartness, but producers such as E & J Gallo Winery
have produced varietal wines from the grape. According to wine expert Jancis Robinson
, Ruby Cabernet can have some aromas reminiscent of a young Cabernet Sauvignon with the color of a Carignan but it lacks the structure and body to produce premium wines.
In California, the variety is widely planted in the Central Valley where it can withstand the hot continental climate of the valley and still produce harvest
yields of 6 to 9 tons an acre. Outside of California, the variety can also be found in Australia, Argentina, Chile and South Africa.
, which itself is a hybrid of the Vitis rupestris
Armon Rupestris Ganzin No. 4 and the vinifera crossing Alicante Bouschet
. Trial breeding and testing was completed by Olmo in 1958.
Like Ruby Cabernet, it was bred to produce significant yields in hot climate and in the California Central Valley it regularly yields 8 to 10 tons an acre. However, Rubired is a unique in that it is a teinturier
variety with pigmented, instead of clear, juice. Most red wine grapes have clear juice; the red color of wines comes from extraction of pigment from the grape skins
. The variety was originally intended to create fortified port-style wines
, and since the late 20th century, producers in Australia have included in some port-style blends. Its intensely dark color is often used in blending as a color contributor in other red wines, but it is can also used to create varietal wines.
and Muscadelle
. Trials on the variety began in 1936 and the variety was released in 1948 at the same time as Ruby Cabernet. Unlike many of the cool climate Riesling crossings produced in Germany at facilities like Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute
, the Emerald Riesling was bred for warm climates like the San Joaquin Valley
of California where today more than half of all Emerald Riesling plantings are found. Outside of California, there are limited plantings in South Africa.
According to wine expert Jancis Robinson, Emerald Riesling produces an aromatic, high acid wine that doesn't quite have the flavor definition more commonly associated with Riesling or its cool climate crossings. In cooler climate areas where it has been planted, such as the Monterey AVA
, it can share some traits with Riesling but with a distinctly fuller body.
Emerald Riesling is also known under the synonyms California 1139 E 29, Emerald Rizling, and Riesling Izumrudnii.
that was produced from a crossing of the vinifera Ribier with a separate crossing of Damas Rose and Black Monukka. The grape was developed by Dr. Olmo in 1941.
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
and table grape varieties produced by University of California, Davis
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
viticulturist Dr. Harold Olmo
Harold Olmo
Dr. Harold Olmo was a pioneering viticulturalist and professor at the University of California, Davis where he created many new grape varieties known today as Olmo grapes. In the 1950s, he helped to establish California's first quarantine facility on the UC-Davis campus to permit California...
. Over the course of his nearly 50 year career, Dr. Olmo bred a wide variety of both grapes by means of both crossing varieties from the same species or creating hybrid grapes
Hybrid grapes
Hybrid grapes are grape varieties that are the product of a crossing of two or more Vitis species. This is in contrast to crossings between grape varieties of the same species, typically Vitis vinifera, the European grapevine. Hybrid grapes are also referred to as inter-specific crossings...
from cultivars of different Vitis
Vitis
Vitis is a genus of about 60 species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, both for direct consumption of the fruit and for fermentation to produce...
species.
Over 30 new grape varieties were created by Dr. Olmo and introduced to the California wine
California wine
California wine has a long and continuing history, and in the late twentieth century became recognized as producing some of the world's finest wine. While wine is made in all fifty U.S. states, up to 90% of American wine is produced in the state...
and table grape industries.
Ruby Cabernet
Ruby CabernetRuby Cabernet
Ruby Cabernet is a red Olmo grape variety that is a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignan, it can produce wines with good colour and a pleasant cherry flavour, but is mostly blended into bulk wines....
is the most notable and widely planted Olmo grape. It is a crossing between the Vitis vinifera
Vitis vinifera
Vitis vinifera is a species of Vitis, native to the Mediterranean region, central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran....
varieties Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...
and Carignan that was first trailed by Dr. Olmo in 1936 before being released in 1948. The grape is primarily used as a blending component, adding color and tartness, but producers such as E & J Gallo Winery
E & J Gallo Winery
E & J Gallo Winery was founded in 1933 by Ernest Gallo and Julio Gallo in Modesto, California. E & J Gallo Winery is the largest exporter of California wines and is a large promoter of wines from Sonoma County.-History:...
have produced varietal wines from the grape. According to wine expert Jancis Robinson
Jancis Robinson
Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, MW is a British wine critic, journalist and editor of wine literature. She currently writes a weekly column for the Financial Times, and writes for her website jancisrobinson.com...
, Ruby Cabernet can have some aromas reminiscent of a young Cabernet Sauvignon with the color of a Carignan but it lacks the structure and body to produce premium wines.
In California, the variety is widely planted in the Central Valley where it can withstand the hot continental climate of the valley and still produce harvest
Harvest (wine)
The harvesting of wine grapes is one of the most crucial steps in the process of winemaking. The time of harvest is determined primarily by the ripeness of the grape as measured by sugar, acid and tannin levels with winemakers basing their decision to pick based on the style of wine they wish to...
yields of 6 to 9 tons an acre. Outside of California, the variety can also be found in Australia, Argentina, Chile and South Africa.
Rubired
Rubired is a hybrid of the vinifera variety Tinto Cão and Alicante GanzinAlicante Ganzin
Alicante Ganzin is a red French wine grape variety. Unlike most Vitis vinifera wine grapes, Alicante Ganzin is a teinturier with dark flesh that produces red juice...
, which itself is a hybrid of the Vitis rupestris
Vitis rupestris
Vitis rupestris is a kind of grape native to the Southern and Western United States that is known by many common names including July, sand, sugar, beach, bush, currant, ingar, rock, and mountain grape. It is used for breeding several French-American hybrids as well as many root stocks. ...
Armon Rupestris Ganzin No. 4 and the vinifera crossing Alicante Bouschet
Alicante Bouschet
Alicante Bouschet or Alicante Henri Bouschet is a wine grape variety that has been widely cultivated since 1866. It is a cross of Petit Bouschet and Grenache. Alicante is a teinturier, a grape with red flesh. It is one of the few teinturier grapes that belong to the Vitis vinifera species...
. Trial breeding and testing was completed by Olmo in 1958.
Like Ruby Cabernet, it was bred to produce significant yields in hot climate and in the California Central Valley it regularly yields 8 to 10 tons an acre. However, Rubired is a unique in that it is a teinturier
Teinturier
Teinturier, a French language term meaning to dye or stain, is a wine term applied to grapes whose flesh and juice is red in colour due to anthocyanin pigments accumulating within the pulp of the grape berry itself. In most cases, anthocyanin pigments are confined to the outer skin tissue only, and...
variety with pigmented, instead of clear, juice. Most red wine grapes have clear juice; the red color of wines comes from extraction of pigment from the grape skins
Maceration (wine)
Maceration is the winemaking process where the phenolic materials of the grape— tannins, coloring agents and flavor compounds— are leached from the grape skins, seeds and stems into the must. Maceration is the process by which the red wine receives its red color, since 99% of all grape juice is...
. The variety was originally intended to create fortified port-style wines
Port wine
Port wine is a Portuguese fortified wine produced exclusively in the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal. It is typically a sweet, red wine, often served as a dessert wine, and comes in dry, semi-dry, and white varieties...
, and since the late 20th century, producers in Australia have included in some port-style blends. Its intensely dark color is often used in blending as a color contributor in other red wines, but it is can also used to create varietal wines.
Emerald Riesling
Emerald Riesling is a white wine grape crossing between the vinifera varieties RieslingRiesling
Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines. Riesling wines are usually varietally...
and Muscadelle
Muscadelle
Muscadelle is a white wine grape variety. It has a simple aroma of grape juice and raisins like grapes of the Muscat family of grapes, but it is unrelated....
. Trials on the variety began in 1936 and the variety was released in 1948 at the same time as Ruby Cabernet. Unlike many of the cool climate Riesling crossings produced in Germany at facilities like Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute
Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute
The Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute was founded in 1872 and is located in Geisenheim, Rheingau, Germany. In 1876 professor Hermann Müller from Switzerland joined the institution, where he developed his namesake variety Müller-Thurgau , which became the most planted grape variety in Germany in...
, the Emerald Riesling was bred for warm climates like the San Joaquin Valley
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...
of California where today more than half of all Emerald Riesling plantings are found. Outside of California, there are limited plantings in South Africa.
According to wine expert Jancis Robinson, Emerald Riesling produces an aromatic, high acid wine that doesn't quite have the flavor definition more commonly associated with Riesling or its cool climate crossings. In cooler climate areas where it has been planted, such as the Monterey AVA
Monterey AVA
The Monterey AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in eastern Monterey County, California. It was established in 1984. It is part of the larger Central Coast AVA. It runs roughly from its northern point, north of Monterey Bay to its southern point, abutting Paso Robles, California...
, it can share some traits with Riesling but with a distinctly fuller body.
Emerald Riesling is also known under the synonyms California 1139 E 29, Emerald Rizling, and Riesling Izumrudnii.
Other wine grapes
- Carnelian is a crossing of the Vitis vinifera Carignan and a separate vinifera crossing between Cabernet Sauvignon and GrenacheGrenacheGrenache is one of the most widely planted red wine grape varieties in the world. It ripens late, so it needs hot, dry conditions such as those found in Spain, the south of France, and California's San Joaquin Valley. It is generally spicy, berry-flavored and soft on the palate with a relatively...
. It was created in 1972 to combine the genetic traits that allow Carignan and Grenache to produce well in warm climates with some of flavor and wine characteristics of Cabernet Sauvignon.
- Centurian (also known as Centurion) is a vinifera crossing between Carignan and a separate crossing of Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache. The grape was developed by Dr Olmo in 1975 matching the same grape varieties used to produce the Carnelian grape a few years earlier. Today it is mostly planted in the Central Valley of California.
- FloraFlora (grape)Flora is the name of two unrelated varieties of grape, one white and one red, both of United States origin.- White Flora :The white Flora is a California wine grape. It is a crossing of Semillon and Gewürztraminer, both Vitis vinifera varieties, and it was created in 1938 by Harold P...
is a crossing of two vinifera varieties, SemillonSémillonSémillon is a golden-skinned grape used to make dry and sweet white wines, most notably in France and Australia.-History:The origin of the Sémillon grape is hard to determine. It is known that it first arrived in Australia in the early 19th century and by the 1820s the grape covered over 90 percent...
and GewürztraminerGewürztraminerGewürztraminer is an aromatic wine grape variety that performs best in cooler climates. It is sometimes referred to colloquially as Gewürz, and in French it is written '...
, that was created in 1938 by Dr. Olmo at the California Agricultural Experiment Station. A separate red Flora hybrid exist but it is not related in anyway to the Olmo Flora.
- Symphony is a crossing of the vinifera varieties Muscat of AlexandriaMuscat (grape and wine)The Muscat variety of grapes of the species Vitis vinifera is widely grown for wine, raisins and table grapes. Their color ranges from white to near black. Muscat almost always has a pronounced sweet floral aroma. Muscat grapes are grown around the world...
and Grenache Gris. that Dr. Olmo first began developing in 1948. It took over 30 years to complete crossing trials and produce a viable cultivar. Symphony was finally completed and introduced commercially in 1981 and patentPatentA patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
ed in 1983. The grape makes a white wine with a slight spiciness with tree fruit aromas of citrusCitrusCitrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the rue family, Rutaceae. Citrus is believed to have originated in the part of Southeast Asia bordered by Northeastern India, Myanmar and the Yunnan province of China...
, apricotApricotThe apricot, Prunus armeniaca, is a species of Prunus, classified with the plum in the subgenus Prunus. The native range is somewhat uncertain due to its extensive prehistoric cultivation.- Description :...
and peachPeachThe peach tree is a deciduous tree growing to tall and 6 in. in diameter, belonging to the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae. It bears an edible juicy fruit called a peach...
. It is primarily a blending grape but can be made into a varietalVarietal"Varietal" describes wines made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label. Examples of grape varieties commonly used in varietal wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot...
wine.
Table grapes
Black rose is a table grapeTable grape
Table grapes are grapes intended for consumption while they are fresh, as opposed to grapes grown for wine production, juice production, or for drying into raisins....
that was produced from a crossing of the vinifera Ribier with a separate crossing of Damas Rose and Black Monukka. The grape was developed by Dr. Olmo in 1941.