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 First Researchers: From Democritus to Aristotle

Leaving the semi-mythical Homeric era behind, we finally encounter in the 5th century BC a true ampelographer, at least according to the testimony of Pliny the Elder. This was the philosopher Democritus of Abdera (born circa 470 BC). He asserted that the number of known grape varieties was not infinite, that they could be easily counted, and he boasted of knowing every variety found throughout Greece.

Unfortunately, of Democritus's agricultural works, and specifically of his specialized treatise on the vine, only a few fragments preserved in the Byzantine compilation "Geoponica" by Cassianus Bassus have reached us, and these remnants are unrelated to variety descriptions. Therefore, it is entirely on faith, without further proof, that Democritus of Abdera can be called the oldest of ampelographers.

Xenophon, a contemporary of Democritus, is among the ancient authors whose works have survived and whom we would place at the head of the list if we were to write the history of viticulture. However, Xenophon, who left so much wise advice on the planting of vines in his treatise "Oeconomicus," did not deign to enter into ampelographical details.

The works of Aristotle and Theophrastus constitute a magnificent encyclopedia of human knowledge in the 4th century BC. A truly scientific spirit flows through their writings, which left humanity dazzled for many centuries. From an ampelographical perspective, we could hardly expect to find much in Aristotle, who had transferred the teaching of botany to his favorite disciple. Incidentally, Aristotle mentions seedless grapes and the capnias (καπνός) vine—the smoky or smoke-colored grape so frequently cited after him.

The Botanical Breakthrough of Theophrastus

The harvest is much richer in the two treatises of Theophrastus (375–297 BC): "Enquiry into Plants" (Περὶ φυτῶν ἱστορία) and "On the Causes of Plants" (Περὶ φυτῶν αἰτιῶν). The first of these works, the History of Plants, is a treatise on general botany, but since Theophrastus cites the vine as an example in almost every chapter, one can reconstruct its morphology and thus establish the general ampelography of the 4th century BC.

Theophrastus recorded observations of great significance for science. He was the first to note the diverse results obtained from sowing grape seeds (pépins), with the resulting vines differing greatly from the parent plants. He also described instances of spontaneous natural variations (mutations) in the vine, concerning the form and color of the fruit.

Long before Virgil, he noted the infinite variety of grape strains, but it would be unjust to take literally his mention of the popular opinion that there were as many varieties as there were types of soil. Theophrastus cited this view but did not adopt it as his own, carefully writing in this regard: "τινές φασι"—"some say."

The second work of Theophrastus, "On the Causes of Plants," is a book on applied botany, and the grapevine occupies a prominent place in it. The writings of Xenophon and Theophrastus were evidently the sources from which all those who treated viticulture drew for a long series of centuries, particularly Columella, Pliny, and their copyists. What Theophrastus tells us and lets us glimpse shows that viticulture was already highly enlightened in his time, and we have not added major improvements to the old cultivation methods of 2,300 years ago.

In this applied treatise, from an ampelographical point of view, we can note the differentiation of grape varieties according to:

  • The specific ripening periods of their fruit;
  • Their diverse requirements regarding the pruning method to be applied.

He details which vines require long pruning and which require short pruning. To illustrate this fundamental rule, Theophrastus cites three specific types of grapes, which clearly demonstrate the breadth of the ancient Greek selection:

  • The Agyrios (Ἀγύριος) vine: A variety that yielded a proper and high-quality harvest only under the condition of strict short pruning.
  • The Akanthos (Ἄκανθος) vine: A strain with a completely opposite nature, which, on the contrary, demanded an exclusively long pruning of its fruit-bearing shoots.
  • The Mainomenis (μαινομένη) vine: A peculiar plant whose name Latin authors would later translate as vitis insana ("mad vine"). The defining characteristic of this vine was that its flowers regularly dropped, completely aborting without ever setting fruit. In essence, Theophrastus left us the earliest historical record of a wild dioecious vine with functionally male flowers.