Abstract
The importance and extent of wine consumption in all life aspects at the Holy Land is well documented. The Muslim influence in this region led to the abandonment of winemaking practices, and possible loss of indigenous wine varieties. Here we present a country wide collection of the local grapevine population including wild and cultivated forms, and its characterization by genetic, ampelographic and enological methods. The ampelographic analysis shows clear differences between Sativa and Sylvestris groups in flower, leaf and cluster parameters, and that most Sativa belong to proles orientalis. Genetic population analysis was conducted by analyzing 22 common SSR markers, determining first the unique genotypes, and internally assessing the population’s structure, showing the existence of two distinct Sativa and Sylvestris populations, and a third mixed one. Likewise, the relationship between the Israeli grapevine population and grapevine populations in Europe and parts of Asia was investigated, showing that the Israeli Sativa and Sylvestris populations cluster closely together, suggesting a common genetic source. Lastly, the enological characteristics of selected Sativa and Sylvestris genotypes are presented, demonstrating their potential for quality wine production. This research significantly contributes toward the re-establishment of indigenous and traditional local grapevine varieties into the modern international wine industry.
Highlights
To eventual abandonment of wine grape varieties by local farmers, while maintaining the practice of table grape viticulture[8]
A total of 372 grape accessions (Vitis spp.) which were collected in Israel during the years 2011–2015 were analyzed in this work
We present here the analysis of 93 putative wild individuals of Sylvestris which is a part of a much larger Sylvestris population collected for future analysis
Summary
To eventual abandonment of wine grape varieties by local farmers, while maintaining the practice of table grape viticulture[8]. In the first half of the 20th century, two ampelographic descriptions of local traditional varieties, grown in Israel, Syria and Jordan were published in detail[9,10] Some of these varieties are still cultivated today for the production of table grapes and are preserved in traditional grapevine collections. Enological characteristics of some selected Sativa and Sylvestris grapes are shown, representing the potential for quality red and white wine production. These efforts are the first steps toward the re-establishment of the use of indigenous and traditional Israeli grapevine varieties in the modern wine industry
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