A historical hypothesis on the origin of the norton grape

During the early nineteenth century, the state of Virginia, USA, had several indigenous varieties of hybrid wine grapes. These appeared naturally as attempts at growing European Vitis vinifera provided a European pollen source for nearby wild American grapes while the vinifera survived. Grapes such as red bland, cunningham, woodson, ronk's blue grape, and beaverdam were once found across Virginia. Today, Virginia producers grow only one representative from that time – the norton variety. Fragmented historical evidence provides for an incomplete, yet compelling argument for the origin of this important variety with only a few reasoned inferences. The resulting hypothesis provides a guide to a robust viticulture for Virginia (and eastern North America) that, if revived, would be the foundation for a truly sustainable viticulture. Norton analog grapes could be grown to produce fruit with high enough quality for excellent wine with a fraction (at most 1/5–1/4 current rates) of the pesticides used to grow European V. vinifera that currently dominate the region's grape growing. Eastern North America could once again set about perfecting indigenous wines unique in the world.