🍇 Ontario

Ontario is a white grape variety, not the Canadian province of the same name. It was bred in the USA at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, which belongs to Cornell University. According to the VIVC catalogue it is an interspecific hybrid, meaning its pedigree includes more than the European vine.

Its parents are the American varieties Winchell and Diamond. That is what the breeder recorded, and VIVC notes that DNA markers confirmed it. Cornell dates the variety to 1908. During breeding it carried the number New York 95, and NY 95 is still listed among its synonyms.

VIVC classes Ontario as both a wine and a table grape: its berries can be eaten fresh or processed. The berries are white, that is, greenish. The catalogue gives no vineyard area figures, so the variety is probably rare today.

Ontario left its biggest mark in breeding. A whole line of American varieties descends from it, including Himrod, Romulus, Glenora, Alden, Lakemont and Seneca, as well as New York Muscat, Interlaken and Reliance: more than a dozen on this site. That makes Ontario a notable link in the history of American grape breeding.

Why it matters to you. If you are looking for wine or grapes from Ontario, check what is meant. The Canadian province is a place, while the variety Ontario is an American hybrid, and its name does not mean the grapes come from there. White wine is served at 4–10 °C.