🍇 Campbell Early

Campbell Early is a dark-berried table grape, an interspecific hybrid from the United States. According to its VIVC passport, it was bred by the private breeder George W. Campbell, with the cross made in 1890. Its parents are given as Moore Early and the hybrid Belvidere × Muscat Hamburg; the pedigree has not been confirmed by DNA markers.

VIVC classes it as a table grape that is also suitable for drying; its 6 synonyms include Campbell's Early, Early Campbell and Island Belle. 21 collections hold the variety. In “The Grapes of New York” (1908), Ulysses Hedrick writes that probably no American grape was ever received more favourably or spread more rapidly. Campbell, of Delaware, Ohio, pollinated Moore Early with his own seedling of Belvidere pollinated by Muscat Hamburg; the vine first fruited in 1892, and George Josselyn of Fredonia, New York, introduced it. Its merits: high quality when ripe, no foxiness, small seeds that part easily from the flesh, ripening nearly a fortnight before Concord, large attractive clusters, comparative hardiness, and good keeping and shipping qualities. Its faults: it is particular about soils and conditions, and the berries colour before they ripen, so they are often sold unripe.

Why it matters to you. Campbell Early is grown most widely in South Korea: according to VIVC, the area there rose from 7490 ha in 1981 to 15,419 ha in 1997, and Korean scientists wrote in 2016 that the variety accounts for 70.6% of the country's grape production, against 14.1% for Kyoho. It suits hot, humid conditions and has good cold tolerance. Niabell, Hubbard Seedless and Arkansas 1258 descend from it.