History of Wine - Vineyards
Vitis vinifera L. is a vine that has been cultivated in Europe since ancient times and has been transplanted to other continents to produce both wine and table grapes. There are a large number of varieties, which stand out more for their agronomic traits than for their botanical characteristics, and the strains used for table grapes are very different from those used for winemaking grapes. It is estimated that there are about five thousand types of V. vinifera worldwide. It is difficult to locate Vitis vinifera in its natural habitat; it was even believed to have disappeared.
It is possible that the classification of V. vinifera has been exaggerated and expanded artificially with respect to wine grapes. It is common for the same name to be used to refer to two different grape varieties. For example, German Riesling and Italian Riesling are considered different varieties. Something similar happens with varieties such as Moscatel, Cariñena, Malvasía and others. In some cases, the same variety may be known by different names, even within the same language or country.
In Spanish, these types of grape are called “viduño”. According to the Royal Spanish Academy, it means “grape variety or variety of vines”. Some languages don’t have a precise word for it, such as Italian, which calls it “vitigno”. In the most recent French-French dictionaries, the word “cépage” is used to designate the vine, but this is not the case in older dictionaries. The expression “viduño” is only used in Spain, while “strain” is the most used term in Spanish-speaking countries and comes from the French “cépage”. It is not correct to use the expression “type of grape” to refer to a type of vine. Varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo and Viura are different types of the same Vitis vinifera vine.
Grapes can be divided into different groups, such as ripe, sour, raisins and partially ripe. In addition, they can also be organized according to the vineyard where they were cultivated. Carlos Falcó translates the French term “cépage” as “grape variety” and defines vitieño as “vineyard”.