Ampelography: Not a Field of Study, but a Vineyard

Vine Leaf on Wine Bottle

It takes a trained palette to identify a wine based on taste alone–where it came from, what grapes it was made from, how it was vinified. A wine-drinker must go through years of studying and tasting to become a sommelier with that level of discernment. In the world of wine, identifying a vintage based on taste alone is a crowning achievement, exalted in the highest level of mastery that is the practical blind tasting section of the Masters of Wine exam. But there is another kind of identification that is equally, if not more, difficult when it comes to wine and grapes. This mastery falls in the field of ampelography, which requires no palette, but an intimate botanical knowledge of the grapevine. 

In 1661, a scientist named Philip Jakob Sachs from present day Poland wrote a book describing grapevines called Ampelographia. The publication marked the first use of the term “ampelography” which derives from the Greek ampelos for vine graphe for description. This is not to say that he was the first to describe the differences between different varieties of vines. Ancient writers had written about grape varieties and attempted some classification in the classical period. 

At its most basic level, ampelography is the identification of grapevine varieties based on botanical attributes of the plant. It is a highly descriptive field of study, categorizing vines based on color, texture, shape, size, structure and behavior over time. The nomenclature, techniques, and science behind the field of study have truly come of age in the last 150 years.

Ampelographia by Philip Jakob Sachs
1661 title page of Ampelographia by Philip Jakob Sachs. This is the first use of the term ampelography. From Biblioteca Europea di Informazione e Cultura, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The art of identifying grapevines took off in the second half of the 19th century. The main motivation was not for sensory qualities, but for agricultural purposes. New World wine diseases like downy and powdery mildew, phylloxera, and black rot had arrived in Europe with dire consequences. Wine-growers could not quibble about how the wine tasted, because there were no grapes to vinify in the first place. 

There were, however, certain varieties of grapevines that were more resistant to diseases–especially the New World vines that had adapted to cope with fungi and insects for thousands of years prior to the Columbian Exchange. It became incredibly important to be able to identify vine varieties in order to graft vines onto more disease resistant rootstocks and plant varieties that would optimize harvests based on soil, climate, and disease. The science literally saved European viticulture. 

As the field of ampelography continued to develop, it became important to standardize classification and methodology across wine-growing regions. Where farmers had given names to each variety of vine in their own local language or dialect, a commission in 1873 aimed to standardize the names internationally. The result of the meeting was the  “International Forum for the Description of Grape Varieties,” a first-of-its-kind catalog of international vine varieties.

At the turn of the century, Louis Ravas published Les Vignes Américaines, a text intending to show the disease-resistant advantages of American vines, which also introduced the systematic use of vein length and angle measurements in vine identification. An Austrian, Hermann Goethe, had considered the idea in the past, but this text marked the first proper treatment of the technique which would dominate 20th century ampelography. (Galet)

Shortly thereafter, Pierre Viala and Victor Vermorel published an extensive catalog of vines titled Ampélographie:Traité général de viticulture from 1901 to 1910. The vast work documented a staggering 5,200 varieties of vines, across seven volumes with an extensive collection of illustrations. Today, it is still a collector’s treasure thanks to its beautiful botanical sketch plates. 

Finally, from 1956 to 1964, Pierre Galet published his Cépages et Vignobles de France. In his work, Galet outlined a system of vine measurement, or ampelometric method, that used ratios of the lengths of different veins on the adult leaf and the angles between the veins to classify them. It would become the gold standard in ampelography, as an efficient and pragmatic method for vine growers to adopt. 

Ampelography has evolved into a science that increases the quality of grapes, optimizes the efficiency of vineyards, and reduces the risk of crop failure. It is botanical in nature, but economic in implementation. The science even extends outside of the world of wine–addressing any need for products derived from the grapevine like leaves, berries, or vinegar. 

Modern methods of vine identification go beyond the botanical observations of Galet and his predecessors. Biochemical analyses can now pinpoint grapevine varieties with machined precision, using a variety of obscure acronymed methods like RFLP, RAPD, AFLP, and SSR. (Sabir) Still, Pierre Galet, who passed away in 2019, was a pioneer in his field and knew the grapevine more intimately than many oenophiles know their favorite pinot noir.

Pierre Galet ampelography
The late ampelography, Pierre Galet, in his library. From Marcomendras, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

The Ampelographer’s Tool Kit

Blind tasting a wine requires a sommelier to analyze the color, legs, nose, bouquet, and tannins or a glass of wine among other things. Similarly, the ampelographer approaches the vine from a variety of angles in order to determine its variety. 

The growing tip, young leaf, leaf, lobes and sinuses of the leaves, shoots, canes, flowers, berries, and seeds all have distinguishing attributes which can hint at a vine’s variety. In short, the entire plant abets the trained eye in determining its true identity. 

Galet did not even care about grapes! Sure, the structure of the bunches and the shape of the berry are unique to different varieties, but, in identifying grape varieties, other parts are superior. In her Translator’s Note to his Cépages et Vignobles de France, Lucie T Morton notes, “In his award-winning four-volume work, there is not a single picture of a grape cluster. Instead of dwelling on the fruit, he concentrates his observations on the indument (hairiness) and leaf structure.”

For Galet, the adult leaf holds the most important clues. By his definition, “Only those leaves that occur beyond the sixth node from the base of a shoot coming from wood of the preceding year and that have reached full development are considered adult leaves.” With this standard in mind, the real sleuthing can begin. 

By studying and categorizing vines, Galet was able to break the varieties down based on the veins that were on their leaves. Almost all varieties of grapevines have leaves that are considered palmate, which means they have veins radiating out from a single point. Most have five veins total.

To analyze these veins, the pioneering ampelographer created the Galet Ruler and the Galet Protractor. These systems of measurement use ratios and angles to more accurately assess the unique characteristics of vines. The Galet Ruler calculates the ratios of lengths between veins: L2/L1, L3/L1, L4/L1. The Galet Protractor, on the other hand, assesses the angle between veins L3 and L1 as well as L4 and L1. The resulting metrics can be compared against existing research to name the variety. 

Pierre Galet vine leaf drawing

Due to varying vain length, the leaves of the grapevine are categorized into five shapes: cordiform, or heart-shaped, cuneiform, or shield-shaped, truncate, or shield-shaped with a shorter L3 vein, orbicular, or round, and reniform, or kidney-shaped. Galet argues that, as the grapevine evolved over a vast expanse of time, its species moved from cordiform leaves and progressively diverged into each of the next four leaf varieties. 

In addition to the shape and size of leaves, Galet’s ampelography takes into account the qualities of the leaves’ surfaces. The bottom side of leaves is a good place to check for small hairs that can have different textures, lengths, and densities. In ampelographic jargon, this is known as indument. 

Some vines have no hair at all. These are called glabrous. Among the vines that have hair, there are those that are tomentum or wooly with generous amounts of hair all over the grapevine. If the vine is barely visible through its hairy coating, it is classified as felty, when a bit of green is visible through the hair, it is downy, and when the hairs are more sparse, it is cobwebby or arachnoid. 

Less hairy leaves are called setose or pubescent and have short hairs that are more bristly and grow perpendicular to the surface of the leaf. Some hairs can be dense and fine, in which case the vine is velvety. Still others are thick and thorn like. A much less systematic way of differentiating vines, descriptive observations about hairiness are still very useful in identifying grape varieties. 

Wine leaf diagram
Galet's diagram of the vine leaf with labeled veins.

The task of ampelography is not small. There are over 1,000 different cultivars of the grapevine, although only a handful are used in producing wine or fruit for human consumption. (Sabir)

DNA analyses are ultimately more reliable than leaf measurements of hair descriptions, but there is still a place for Galet’s system. 

In a world where climates are unpredictable, pests are ever lurking, and land is increasingly expensive, it is vital that vineyards plant the perfect vine for their purposes. Ampelography can help weed out mislabeled vines that are ill-suited for the climate or produce grapes with different sensory qualities. As ampelography advances into vine genetics, it is easy to disregard the value of Galet’s system, but DNA analysis is costly, time-consuming, and inaccessible. All the vine grower really needs is a ruler, a protractor, and a copy of Galet’s ground breaking catalog. 

Wine Leaf

Sources Cited:

Galet, Pierre. A Practical Ampelography: Grapevine Identification. Ithaca, N.Y.: Comstock Pub. Associates, 1979.

Sabir, Ali, et al. “Ampelographic and molecular diversity among grapevine (Vitis spp.) cultivars.” Czech Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding 45.4 (2009): 160-168.

Zarmaev, Ali A. “History of Ampelography: Past and Present.” Winemaking: Theory and Practice 2 (2017): 37-55.

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