This material is prepared based on the original historical research from the section "Histoire de l'ampélographie" ("History of Ampelography") authored by Ch. Tallavignes, published in the first volume of the classic "Ampélographie" edited by P. Viala and V. Vermorel (Macon, 1901–1910).

The Botanical Revolution of the 18th Century and Viticulture

At the dawn of the 18th century, the global science of the vine entered a phase of fundamental restructuring. The research of such prominent scientists as Malpighi, Magnol, Ray, and Tournefort paved the way for the monumental reform of Carl Linnaeus. Armed with a rational botanical nomenclature and strict classification rules, vine researchers were finally able to break free from the dead end of simple name listing. Applied ampelography began to progress rapidly. Although in the first half of the century authors still frequently followed the old track, compiling brief variety lists with concise practical notes, a scientific revolution was already in the air — a powerful ampelographic surge that would eventually subject the study of grapes to the strict laws of academic botany.

German Compendiums: Grapes in the Works of Julius von Rohr

In German-speaking lands, the accumulation of ampelographic records proceeded through the creation of large-scale regional encyclopedias. In 1715, Johann Sigmund Elsholtz published his foundational gardening guide (Gartenbau), which included an impressive inventory of vines containing thirty purely German grape varieties and more than fifty foreign strains extracted from French publications.

German Grape Varieties Recorded by Elsholtz: Schönedel, Muscateller, Blankwelsch, Rebfahl, Mittel Frankisch, Gross Frankisch, Klein Frankisch, Adel Frankisch, Grün Frankisch, Elbling, Blanck Heunisch, Rüssling, Lamperts, Weidling, Frün Weidling, Roth Muscateller, Roth Welsch, Genser, Roth Traminer, Schieltraminer, Wiener, Klebroth, Ungrisch leibfarb, Roth Heunisch, Hartroth, Ziegelfarbe, Gemeinroth, Feldroth, Schleeroth, Zottelroth.

In 1730, Julius Bernhard von Rohr published his capital work "Economic Viticulture of Germany" (Viticultura Germaniae oeconomica) in Germany, which enjoyed an flawless reputation in the scholarly community for many years. The first part of his book was an annotated reissue of Abraham de Dehn's old 1626 guide. The second, more original section was established based on von Rohr's personal observations and a critical analysis of works by Johann Boecler, Hoffmann, Hauptmann, as well as the classic publications of Philipp Sachs and the French Abbé Boullay. Von Rohr described about thirty of Germany's most important grape varieties in detail, introducing for the first time into ampelographic traits such an essential botanical indicator as the coloration of the mature wood (bois) of the vine.

Following von Rohr, German literature was enriched by the research of Brückmann (1740) and Mattolaï de Zolna (1744), who described in detail the autochthonous variety composition and the cultivation specifics of the great Hungarian Tokay grape. Slightly later, in the middle of the century, in the famous Franconian collections Fränkische Sammlungen (1755–1758), Hennike published a detailed geographical study of Franconia's vineyards, Schweinfurth presented extensive notes on the properties of local wines, and an anonymous author (presumably Delius) compiled a strict catalogue of twenty-two Franconian vine varieties.

The Dutch School: The Trellis Viticulture of Johann Knoop

A unique contribution to the development of applied science was brought by the Dutch school in the person of the outstanding researcher Johann Hermann Knoop. In 1762, his monumental work "Fructology" (Fructologia) was published in Holland, with its French translation appearing in Amsterdam in 1771. Knoop established a true scientific treatise dedicated to the art of growing grapes on wall trellises (arbors and pergolas), dedicating immense space to ampelographic descriptions.

Relying on the fact that the famous early variety Van der Laan had been obtained by him through the artificial sowing of seeds, Knoop put forward a revolutionary (though not entirely accurate from the standpoint of modern science) theory that "absolutely all the different sorts of grapes known to us owe their existence exclusively to seed propagation." He completely denied the possibility of vegetative preservation of bud mutations. Knoop compiled a fundamental comparative table of synonyms, including about a hundred names of vines most valued in the United Provinces, and supported it with detailed morphological descriptions of fifty-two grape varieties, providing the book with magnificent colored illustrations of the clusters of the Gutedel and Hogmar varieties.

The New World: The First Steps of the Grape in America

During this same period, European science began to closely examine the wild and cultivated vine of the American continent, where attempts to establish the first vineyards had been undertaken a colossally long time ago. The very first documented experiment was attempted back in 1564 in Florida using a native autochthonous vine. By the mid-18th century, these attempts intensified sharply due to the mass import of noble European grape varieties, and the colonial authorities of Great Britain and France strongly encouraged these undertakings.

The first serious botanical descriptions of American vines were compiled by the French missionary and researcher Pierre Plumier. In his 1703 work (Nova plantarum americanarum genera), he laid a solid foundation for the study of the wild grape of the New World, describing six specific American species belonging to the Ampelideae family in detail. Later, Aaron Hill in London published a practical guide "Directions for Cultivating Vines in America" (1749), and Le Page, better known as Du Pratz, in his three-volume "History of Louisiana" (1759) clearly demonstrated to European scientists that quite good and quality wines could be obtained from local spontaneous American vines.

French Ampelography of the Early 18th Century: The Research of Pierre Garidel

In France, the study of grape varieties developed unevenly during this period, yet it was here that the foundations for precise regional descriptions were laid. A serious contribution to the science of the vine was made by Doctor of Medicine and Royal Professor of Anatomy Pierre Garidel, who published his capital work "Histoire des plantes qui naissent aux environs d'Aix" in Aix-en-Provence in 1715. Garidel described the local Provençal assortment not as a practicing winemaker, but as a strict botanist. Although Ch. Tallavignes notes a certain dryness in his records, which resembled concise floras in their brevity, Garidel was the first to apply the method of comparative analysis to grape varieties in the region.

The Provençal Vine Registry of Pierre Garidel: Garidel recorded the characteristics of the Barbaroux grape (which he identified with the Grec variety) in detail, painstakingly identifying the differences in its berries regarding skin firmness and cluster size compared to similar varieties. His catalogue included the vernacular names of the following vines: Corinthe, Cioutat, Muscat, Muscat rouge, Muscat de panse, Aubier, Jouanens, Matinié, Juanens Négrés, Douceagno, Pascau, Pascau blanc, Plan estrani, Houdeillat, Uni, Pendoulau, Verdau, Lard de pouërc, Aragnan, Pignolet (Pinsan), Auliveto blanco, Plan de san jean, Coucourdier, Rin gris, Clareto, Espagnin, Taulier (Plan de Manosque), Rin brun, Catalan, Bouteillan, Mourvégue, Salé, Uni nègre, Grand Guillaume (Rognon de coq), Carlantin, Crochu, Grec, Aulivetos, Plan d'Arles, Muscats négrés, Unis rougés, Unis rougés de Partus, Tardarié, and Malvoisie.

Curiously, Garidel completely omitted such famous southern vines as Piquepoul and Terret, which had previously been described in detail by Olivier de Serres and Pierre Magnol. This demonstrates Garidel's scientific integrity: he recorded exclusively the grape varieties actively growing in Provence and made no attempt to transpose vines from the neighboring departments of Gard, Hérault, and Aude, where Piquepoul and Terret were historically dominant plants.

The First Inventory of Aquitaine: The Variety Lists of Abbé Bellet

For a long time, an astonishing gap remained in the history of French science: the country's most renowned winemaking region — Aquitaine (Bordeaux) — lacked a comprehensive ampelographic description. In the first half of the 18th century, this lacuna was addressed by the academician and canon of Cadillac, Abbé Bellet. In June 1736, he presented an extensive manuscript memorandum titled "Voyage littéraire" to the Bordeaux Academy of Sciences, which included a highly detailed catalogue of 81 grape varieties.

Bellet's catalogue contained valuable annotations on the form, size of the berries, skin color, quality of the resulting wine, and the soil types preferred by specific vines. Bellet divided his registry into three distinct geographical blocks:

  • Bordeaux Grape Varieties (White): Blanc bouillan (blanc doux), blanc verdet (verdelet, corbin), blanquet, blayois (roussalin), chalosse, coni blanc, corinthe, damas, enrageat blanc (plan de dames), guilan blanc, malvoisie, muscat bâtard, muscat blanc, muscadelle, passemusquée, pulgarie (pergarie), prurat, sauvignon, sauvignonas, sémilion (saint emilion);
  • Bordeaux Grape Varieties (Black): Balousat (enrageat noir), biquane, coni (sauvignon noir), cruschinet, gouton, guilan noir, laparde, mansin, moustrage, mousat (teinturier), maton (massoutet), marroie, l'Etranger, saflit, grande vuidure, petite vuidure, grand verdot, petit verdot, pied d'oeille, tarnei;
  • Languedoc and Cadillac Grape Varieties: The Mausat, Marroquin, Mourestel, Piquepoul, Redondal, Saint-Martin, Verdanel, Riberin, Mouillave, Terret noir, Blanquette (de Limous), Pouppe l'aze, Blanc auba, La colle, Camehort, Cruscan, Jacques Bernard, Oeil de perdrix vines, and others.

Michel Adanson and the Foundations of Grape Physiology

While the ampelography of the northern and central provinces of France (including the 1752 works of Nicolas Bidet and the 1755 publications of Nolin and Blavet) remained at the level of dry listing, a genuine scientific breakthrough was achieved by the great physiologist Michel Adanson. In his celebrated book "Familles des Plantes" (1758), he published the results of fifteen years of continuous observations on grape vegetation around Paris, which he classified into the Caper family.

Adanson laid a solid foundation for studying the climatic adaptation of the vine. He was the first in the history of science to prove experimentally that the amount of heat required for the proper development of leaves, flowering, and full ripening of the berries of a specific grape variety remains constant from year to year, regardless of whether the spring is early or late. Adanson painstakingly calculated the sum of active temperatures (recording daily maximum heat levels at noon in winter and in the afternoon in summer). Based on these calculations, he identified:

  • Early Grape Varieties: Those blooming upon accumulating 1,690 degrees of heat and ripening by June 20 under the climate of Paris;
  • Late Grape Varieties: Those requiring at least 1,850 degrees of heat for the start of flowering, and between 3,300 and 3,700 degrees of heat for full berry ripening by the time of harvest (on average by October 5).

These fundamental physiological experiments by Michel Adanson became the earliest scientific milestones that lifted ampelography out of the stage of simple name collection and transformed it into a strict academic discipline studying the deep connection of the vine with climate and the environment.