Growing Grapes in Hawai'i

Fruits, Nuts, and Beverage Crops February 2014 F_N-26 Growing Grapes in Hawai‘i Ken Love1 and Robert E. Paull2 1Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers Association; 2Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa Introduction and Early who was the god of the grape History harvest, winemaking, and wine. Thousands of years of observa- Dionysus is also known as Bac- tions and hundreds of years of chus, the name adopted by the research are reflected in the hun- Romans. The Greeks are known dreds of thousands of pages that for their “symposia,” intellectual have been written on viticulture, gatherings where participants or grape growing. This informa- discussed philosophy while en- tion is available in books, research joying wines from eight growing articles, and extension publications regions. “Modern”-style wine that can be found online and off. presses are found in tombs from The intent of this publication is 3000 BC, and in the Minoan to provide growers in Hawai‘i village of Myrtos, wine cups, with the background of grapes in amphorae, and grape seeds were the tropics and the very basics of found. Other vessels have been Scientific Names growing grapes. found in the ruins of the storage Family Name: Vitaceae houses of King Minos’ palace in Early archeological remains Genus: Vitis L. suggest winemaking was preva- Knossos. lent in the region of Georgia Viticulture flourished in the Common Names 8,000 years ago, and the remains Byzantine Empire from the fifth Grape (English), uvae (Latin), uva of an Armenian winery date back century through its fall in 1453 to (Portuguese, Italian, Spanish), raisin to 4000 BC. Grapes and wine the Turkish Ottoman Empire, and (French), ubas (Tagalog), trauben (Ger- were enjoyed in Persia, especially it continues in the region to this man), uzum (Turkish), budou (Japanese), in the city of Shiraz, which may day. Grapes are grown throughout szolo (Hungarian), hardhi (Albanian), have produced the first Syrah (or the Mediterranean Basin for their strugure (Romanian), stafyli (Greek). Shiraz), a dark-skinned grape fruit and leaves and to make wine. variety. Phoenicians also enjoyed Stuffed fresh grape leaves, called both wine and fresh grapes. More than 100 grape “dolma,” from the Turkish “to stuff,” were said to have varieties have been genetically mapped in the Medi- been served to Zeus with ambrosia and nectar. Dolma terranean area. Egyptian hieroglyphics record purple are now made with rice, meat, spices, and vegetables grapes being enjoyed as a fresh fruit and made into such as tomato, pepper, onion, zucchini, eggplant, and wine. The Greeks’ 6,000-year-old wine culture re- garlic. Like the fruit, the fresh leaves of the grape vine volved around, Dionysus, the son of Zeus and Semele, have been continuously used throughout culinary history. Published by the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) and issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in co- operation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, under the Director/Dean, Cooperative Extension Service/CTAHR, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822. Copyright 2011, University of Hawai‘i. For reproduction and use permission, contact the CTAHR Office of Communication Services, [email protected], 808-956-7036. The university is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution providing programs and services to the people of Hawai‘i without regard to race, sex, gender identity and expression, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, arrest and court record, sexual orientation, or status as a covered veteran. Find CTAHR publications at www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/freepubs. UH–CTAHR Growing Grapes in Hawai‘i F_N-26 — Feb. 2014 History in Hawai‘i across from the current Foster Botanical Garden for The earliest review of grapes in Hawai‘i was made by a number of decades. A description written in 1822 Harold St. John, professor of botany at the University of said, “The vines…trained after the Spanish fashion Hawai‘i from 1929 to 1958. St. John felt the first grape in bushes, flourish luxuriantly. The proprietor tells us vines might have come with Captain Vancouver in 1792, that they would bear three crops in the year, though although there is also speculation that they came with he prudently prevents the third lest it should too much Don Francisco de Paula Marin in 1791. Warren Yee, a exhaust the stocks.” specialist in horticulture with the University, suggested On April 17, 1815, Marin wrote of the “great havoc that the ‘Isabella’ grape came with early Portuguese in the vines committed by Captain Winship’s hogs,” immigrants later in the 1800s. Current Baldwin family and on May 31, he complained that “many branches members have said the ‘Isabella’ grapes are thought to of grapes have been carried off.” Enough must have have been planted at the Lahaina Maui Baldwin House remained that on July 6 Marin was able to write, “This in the 1850’s, where they continue to flourish. In a jour- day I began to make wine and I drew off 38 gallons.” nal entry of February 1796, Lieutenant William Robert In 1825, the ship Blonde arrived with the bodies Broughton, sailing with Captain Vancouver’s expedition of King Kamehameha II and Queen Kamāmalu, who to the North Pacific, says he brought and planted grapes had died in England. On board was James Macrae in Kealakekua. When he returned in July of the same from the Royal Horticultural Society and the natural- year, they had all disappeared. ist Andrew Bloxam. They brought a large selection of In Honolulu, Marin’s vines had taken root by plants, including grapes from England, Madeira, Rio May 25, 1814. On September 6, 1815, Marin in his de Janeiro, and Valparaíso, Chile. The vines were diary referred to his “new vineyard,” although most labeled ‘Valparaiso’, but it was unclear if they were references are to the “Kings vines.” Marin had asked V. vinifera, the variety now called ‘Valparaiso’. The Kamehameha to put a kapu or taboo on the planting vines were turned over to Marin, who planted them to prevent pilferage. The vineyard remained at the site on May 28 and July 7 of 1825. By 1831, Marin’s vine- 2 UH–CTAHR Growing Grapes in Hawai‘i F_N-26 — Feb. 2014 yards were well established in Honolulu. By 1826, his Origin, Varieties, and Cultivars wine production had climbed to 1,330 gallons, mostly In the 1940’s, tropical grapes were touted as a “new class distilled as brandy. of fruits.” V. tiliaefolia, V. gigas, and V. shuttleworthii In 1899 the Gomes-Serrao family had 80 acres of occur naturally in tropical and sub-topical areas. Many what were reported to be ‘Isabella’ grapes in Pāpa‘ikou, of these were thought to be more disease resistant than north of Hilo, in the same area where the Hawaii Tropi- ‘Isabella’ and other varieties that had previously been cal Botanical Garden is located. The vines were grown grown in Hawai‘i and in other tropical locations. A from cuttings that Jose Gomes-Serrao had brought to number of crosses between V. vinifera and V. labrusca Hawai‘i from Madeira in 1883. By 1903, wine was being showed promise but apparently were never fully success- made and sold from this vineyard. ful in Hawai‘i. Some newer hybrids are currently under Throughout these accounts of early grapes in test in the state by members of the Hawaii Tropical Fruit Hawai‘i, there is continuing speculation as to their Growers Association. parentage. While much early reference material refers India produces over one million tons of grapes in the to them as ‘Isabella’, or Vitis x Labruscana, this is tropics. Commercial grapes are also produced in tropical speculation, as they might have been V. vinifera or V. areas in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Thailand, Tanzania, labrusca. Most grapes are cultivars of V. vinifera, native Yemen, Peru, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. to the Mediterranean and Central Asia, while V. labr- There are over 10,000 types of grapes described usca is native to the Eastern United States and Canada. worldwide from more than 25 species and subspecies. Grapes are wind-pollinated, with flowers containing Most of these are edible, but the majority of popular both male and female parts (hermaphrodites). Most grapes fall into one of five species: Vitis species are closely related, and fertile hybrids are common. The ‘Isabella’ grape stock being grown today V. vinifera in Hawai‘i comes from the USDA Gerplasm Repository The most common grape, originally from the Mediter- at Davis, California. ranean and Central Asia, is used primarily for wine, with 3 UH–CTAHR Growing Grapes in Hawai‘i F_N-26 — Feb. 2014 some eaten fresh out of hand. Common varieties read like Some varieties that currently produce in Hawai‘i a wine list: ‘Petite Sirah’, ‘Cabernet’, ‘Merlot’, ‘Muscat’, below 610-meter (2,000-foot) elevation are ‘Isabella’, ‘Pinot Noir’, and many hundreds of others. Other table ‘Southern Home’, ‘Crimson’, and ‘Orlando Seedless’. grapes include ‘Thompson Seedless’, ‘Sultana’, ‘Red Other cultivars that currently grow in tropical areas Flame’, ‘Black Rose’, and ‘Koshu’. are primarily crosses between V. vinifera, V. labrusca, and V. rotundifolia. They include ‘White Malaga’, ‘Al- V. labrusca phonse Lavallee’, ‘Cardinal’, ‘Kyoho’, and ‘Perlee’, all of North American in origin, a few of the more common which are grown in Thailand, along with ‘Isabella’. In varieties include ‘Isabella’, ‘Concord’, ‘Niagara’, ‘Ruby Bali, Indonesia, ‘Probolinggo Biru-81’, ‘Banjersari 45’, Seedless’, ‘Crimson Seedless’, ‘Orlando Seedless’, and and ‘Banjersari 56’ are the most popular. ‘Centennial’, ‘Catawba’. ‘Isabella’ is most likely a cross with an ‘Summer Muscat’, ‘Diamond Muscat’, and ‘Princess’ unknown Vitis vinifera and was widely imported into also show promise; they are currently being grown in Europe in the early 19th century, possibly carrying the Honolulu and are under test in Kona.

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