Editing Norton (grape) (section)

==History==
[[File:120 Year Old Norton Cynthiana Grapevine.JPG|thumb|A bottle of Norton wine sits next to what is believed to be a 170-year-old Norton/Cynthiana grapevine in Hermann, MO.]]

The Norton cultivar was introduced by Daniel Norborne Norton of Richmond, Virginia, who selected it from among what he believed were [[seedling]]s of a long-forgotten grape variety called Bland, though there is some doubt as to whether it was the actual source of the [[seed]] which yielded Norton. The male parent, presumably, was a wild [[vine]] of ''Vitis aestivalis''.<ref name=gans/><ref name="Ambers">{{cite web | author=Rebecca and Clifford Ambers | title=American Wine Society Journal | work=Daniel Norborne Norton and the Origins of the Norton Grape | url=http://chateau-z.com/downloads/AWS-V36-No3-2004.pdf | access-date=2006-09-06 | archive-date=September 28, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928210514/http://chateau-z.com/downloads/AWS-V36-No3-2004.pdf  }}</ref><ref name="Norton">{{cite web | author=Paul L. Roberts | title=The Wineman International  | work=Norton, America's True Grape ...Whence, and Whither? | url=http://www.thewineman.com/nortongrape.htm | access-date=2006-03-06}}</ref> Another cultivar, called ''Cynthiana'', closely resembles Norton, but has traditionally been considered a separate variety. Genetic studies, however, have shown the two to be indistinguishable.<ref name="Hammers">{{cite journal | last1=Hammers | first1=Mia | last2=Sapkota | first2=Surya | last3=Chen | first3=Li-Ling | last4=Hwang | first4=Chin-Feng | title=Constructing a genetic linkage map of Vitis aestivalis-derived "Norton" and its use in comparing Norton and Cynthiana | journal=Molecular Breeding| volume=37 | issue=5 | date=April 27, 2017 | issn=1380-3743 | doi=10.1007/s11032-017-0644-6 | page=64| bibcode=2017MBree..37...64H | s2cid=37724086 }}</ref>

This grape became available commercially in 1830 and very soon after that came to dominate wine production in the eastern and midwestern states like [[Missouri (wine)|Missouri]] and [[Ohio (wine)|Ohio]] in the United States.<ref name="Norton"/> Since this grape lacks the distinct, "foxy" flavors that are typical of Native American ''[[Vitis labrusca]]'' grapes, it is quite suitable for making dry wine. Vineyards were pulled up and [[Concord grape]]s were planted in their place, for juice and jam.  After prohibition, the wine industry in the eastern half of North America never recovered to the same degree that California's wine industry did.

In the 21st century, United States [[winery|wineries]] along the east coast and throughout the Midwest are re-cultivating and producing wines from Norton grapes, such as at Chrysalis Vineyards in [[Middleburg, Virginia]], which has {{convert|69|acre|ha}} of Norton grapes.<ref name=gans/>