🍷 Ampelography

Ampelography is the detailed characterization of grapevine (Vitis) genotypes by their observable traits, mainly those of leaves, young shoots, bunches and berries. According to a 2023 review, the term was first used by Philipp Jacob Sachs in 1661.

The standard scheme is the OIV Descriptor List for Grape Varieties and Vitis Species, published in 2009 as its second edition, which contains more than 150 descriptor traits. Each trait is coded; for example, the colour of the upper side of a young leaf is OIV 051. Ampelometry, the measurement of leaf shape and size, is the quantitative branch of the field. Its modern form goes back to Louis Ravaz (1902), and Pierre Galet developed an ampelometric index between 1951 and 1964.

Visual description has limits. Morphometric traits vary with the position of the leaf on the shoot, the year, virus infection, vineyard practices and other environmental factors, and recording them by hand is time consuming. For this reason ampelographic data are combined with DNA markers. In a 2021 study of 30 varieties of the Radmilovac collection in Serbia, 45 OIV descriptors and eight SSR loci were used; the DNA profiles showed that several samples were probably misnamed and that some varieties shared identical profiles. SSR markers are not always effective for distinguishing clones, so morphology remains important there.