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Norton Virginia Seedling enjoying Old Dominion rebirth in places like Horton Vineyards in Orange County and Chrysalis Vineyards in Middleburg. By Ken Perrotte Date published: 10/8/2005
MISSOURI WINE of questionable lineage, but often attributed to a grape born of wild, native parents, or possibly an accidental hybrid pairing in Virginia of a wild mother and European father, was proclaimed as the "best wine of all nations" in 1873 at an international competition in Vienna, Austria. Subsequently, wine grape crops were ripped up nearly everywhere across America as the roots of the temperance movement gathered legs, ushering in Prohibition in the early 1900s. Among the casualties was a proud American wine crafted from a grape known as the Norton Virginia Seedling. Fortunately for wine enthusiasts of the 20th and 21st centuries, this American original apparently owes its popular resurrection as a drink for the masses to the Catholic Church in Missouri, which continued to grow the grape and produce the wine for its sacrament of Holy Communion. Dr. Daniel N. Norton of Richmond first publicly announced his namesake grape in 1823. Theories abound on how he "discovered" this variety and whether or not Dr. Norton actually knew what he was dealing with when he identified the grape. Some accounts report he thought he was looking at some kind of hybrid that had at least a partial European pedigree. Scholarly work continues on this unique grape's origins and evolution. Taxonomically, the Norton is classified as a member of the wild native American grape species Vitis aestivalis. Researchers conducting DNA testing have reportedly confirmed the grape is at least partially derived from wild aestivalis , but haven't pinned down the other source of parentage. The grape has been found to be genetically identical to a variety known in Arkansas as "Cynthiana." To further complicate things, the online Wikipedia encyclopedia contains the statement that this "noblest of American winegrapes" was also cultivated by the Cherokees. "According to James Mooney's book 'History, Myths and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees,' Vitis aestivalis was called 'the Summer Grape' and used in some of the Cherokee sacred rituals," Wikipedia reports.
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