All of our heirloom grapes have been grown from dormant cuttings, on their own root, in 4″x12″ containers using soil and compost. They are not grafted. Grapes are easy to grow, tolerant of most soils and climates. The sweetest fruit comes from the sunniest locations. Grapes are self-fertile and do not require another variety for fertilization. Training to a trellis increases productivity, flavor and disease resistance. Grapes have a very low chilling requirement, and can be planted in mild and cold winter sites. Grapes apparently don’t live as long as many fruit and nut trees, so finding them is a challenging reward. If you know of any old grape vines, we would be most interested to hear from you!
The following is a list of many of the Heirloom Grapes we have re-discovered throughout the Gold Country region.
Big Red Grape
Large, Red, Delicious, Prolific
They get redder than the picture suggests. The grapes are large and the clusters are large and prolific. The mother vine has climbed into the surrounding trees, bearing an abundance of large clusters in the tree tops.
Mother Plant is in North San Juan. It is on a homestead with plantings from a few different eras and it is hard to piece out when it was planted. It could be Red Globe Grape.
Birchville Wine Grapes
This unknown Wine Grape must have been important because it was planted in a row about 100 years ago. The vines are incredibly drought tolerant. The grapes seem small with much space between the grapes but its hard to tell since they are so old and drought stricken. The trunks are huge with the largest spanning 30 ft. Collectors Only.
As the name implies, this grape was discovered on the San Juan Ridge, in the small mining community of Birchville.
Black Corinth Grapes
Fundraiser Plant! 2000+ year old grape, perhaps the first seedless grape and raisin! We’ve only found one Mother Vine and it died 2 years ago.
We only have 3 plants.
Black Corinth Grapes are also known as Zante Currants, Corinth Raisins and Corinthian Raisins. The first written record of the grape was allegedly made in 75 AD by Pliny the Elder.
They were sold in England as Reysyns de Corauntz or Raisins of Corinth in the 1400’s after the Greek harbor which was the primary exporter of the grapes. Gradually, the name got corrupted into ‘currant’ from ‘corauntz’. By the 1600’s, the main exporter was the Ionian island Zakinthos or Zante, which all combined you get ‘Zante currant!’ Not to be confused with the edible ‘Currant’ which is also a small purplish, round fruit, similar to the grape in appearance but it is actually an entirely different plant Family!A complicated name can mean a complicated history!Mother plant was growing in Newcastle but died a few years ago 🙁
Concord Grapes
This grape made Welch’s famous. Juicy, thick skinned, seeded, it is immune to powdery mildew and Botrytis bunch rot, thus requiring no spraying! The abundant, medium sized clusters produce dark purple juice with a distinct flavor. Great for eating fresh, juice and jelly. Ephraim Wales Bull bred the Concord grape in 1849 at his farm outside the village of Concord, Massachusetts after planting and evaluating over 20,000 seedlings. He bred the Concord for an early ripening, full flavored grape and won first prize at the Boston Horticultural Society exhibition. Although he had expectations of making a decent living from his work, others quickly propagated and sold his creation. He died a poor man. His tombstone reads “He sowed – others reaped”.
This hardy grape still grows on an old homestead in Camptonville, CA. Many other heirloom trees also grow there including apples and chestnuts, and one of the most delicious cherries. Camptonville was the home of Lester Pelton, inventor of the Pelton Wheel that made hydroelectricity possible.
Cox’s Large Purple Grape
This grape is the largest, juiciest and most interesting grape we have found! The plant is very vigorous and productive with no signs of mildew even though it is seemingly getting no water. It grows as a dense thicket with sprawling 20ft vines that crawl up through the rotten boards of an antique barn. They are ripe when they are full dark purple. They are sweet, tasty, thick skinned and the flavor is mild. The seeding habit of this grape is inconsistent in that some are seedless, some have one seed, some two seeds, some three and some just have an empty seed coat. We are very excited to see how it behaves in the future.
Found on private property at the historic Cox’s Bar below Downieville. There is still 30 historic pants surviving there above the Yuba River. Most are pears but it does include hazelnut, apple, hops, grapes and ornamentals. Cox’s bar employed at least 7 people in 1853, prospecting on the rich banks of the Yuba. Nisenan, the Northeast Maidu and the Washo tribes lived in these areas before the gold digging showed up.
Coyote Street Purple aka: Purple Coyote
We have yet to positively identify this vine by variety, but it is well worth our offering as it is an outstanding seeded, large berried, blushed, purple, multi-purpose grape, excellent for fresh eating, juice, jellies and wine making. Beautiful large bunches ripen in September and early October in Nevada City at 2500’ on an old homestead full of Gillet plants. Highly resistant to powdery mildew, this vine is never sprayed and produces remarkably clean fruit annually.
The mother vine grows on an old homestead in Nevada City, Nevada County, CA, less than one mile for Gillet’s Barren Hill Nursery. Nevada City, the Queen of the Northern Mines, was once the capitol of Nevada, and one of the biggest and most successful mining towns, hosting thousands of miners in the 1800’s. Gillet opened a barber shop here in 1853, started the nursery in the mid 1860’s and opened it to the public in 1871. He grew there for more than 35 years before his passing, when Charles Parsons took over and guided the nursery, then renamed the Felix Gilet Nursery, until 1968, when it was the oldest nursery in California. We have located many of Gillet’s plants n this still thriving Gold Rush era town.
Crystal Grapes
A fresh discovery and wonderful new favorite from a 100 year old vine. We may be the only organization offering this unknown variety. Large green to golden berries, super sweet, flavorful, juicy with a few seeds. Grows in large abundant clusters.
This grandmother vine is found in Newcastle on what used to be part the Fowler Nursery started in 1912 and still running today! This is one of Mark’ Fowler’s favorite grapes. He has been discovering and stewarding old plants from Gold Rush homesites for decades. He’s a super awesome plant explorer and friend. This grape has been growing for over 100 years. Mark’s grandfather said that these grapes were experimental and called them ‘crystal grapes.’ We are are unsure of their historical name but we are sure how awesome they are. Sure to be a favorite! we don’t have the actual picture of these grapes but they look like the ones above which are ‘Italian seedless grape’
Golden Muscat Grapes
These Large and Delicious Grape Clusters are Juicy, Sweet and Flavorful. This Well Adapted grapevine shows strong Mildew Resistance and the seeded clusters produce abundantly every year. The green grapes turn dusty yellowish when perfectly ripe. Great to eat straight from the vine!
Although written about as ‘Muscat’ as early as 13th century Europe there is evidence suggesting it is the oldest known grape family, with earlier origins perhaps in Ancient Egypt or Persia and going as far back as 1000BC. Great to eat out of hand but famous for its wine, the Muscat uniquely imparts the universally recognizable Floral ‘Grape’ Flavor and Aroma into Wines even after fermentation. Origins of the name ‘Muscat’ are unclear but may be from their characteristic Musky aroma or perhaps the old Gulf of Oman town Muscat. This vine was found in Grass Valley. We are not exactly sure which variety of Grape or how old it is, but these grapes are too good, too disease resistant and too well adapted in our Sierra foothills to not include here.
Please Note: We do not ship potted plants individually. It is too expensive, but we will ship them when ordered with other barefoot trees. By themselves, they are only available for pick up in N. San Juan.
Italian Seedless
These Delicious Seedless Green Grapes come from a 100+ year old Vine in Goodyears Bar, CA. As great as, if not better than most modern varieties available today. Similar in many respects to the ‘Kish Mish’ aka ‘Sultana’ aka ‘Thompson’s Seedless’. Every year this vine throws out numerous large clusters of medium size seedless grapes. Ripens Late August through Mid September at 2700′. When ripe they turn from green to a dusty yellow like the small cluster on the right in the profile picture.
This unknown variety is stewarded by Local Historian Cy Rollins who runs a small museum in Goodyears Bar which is open occasionally on weekends. This Grape has been popular with locals in the neighborhood. There was an old gentleman who grew up in the area and knew the variety name, but has passed away. He told several people the name, but it was hard to pronounce. Folks just know it as the “Old Italian Seedless Grape.” Our Friend Feather is going through old notes to see if she can find the name written down somewhere.
Goodyear’s Bar Museum Information http://goodyearsbar.com/portal/
Kish Mish (aka Thompson Seedless and Sultana)
This is a seedless Afghani variety Gillet introduced to the US in 1876. He likely sold some vines to Mr. Thompson, a farmer near the Sutter Buttes in Sutter County, who made the variety famous, and named it after himself. The most widely grown seedless table grape in the US, it is also the premier raisin and often used in making juice, juice concentrate, wine and vinegar. Truly a workhorse, and a wonderful grape. If you have never eaten a fully vine ripened Thompson Seedless you have no idea how much better they are than the store bought kind that have been pumped up with hormones to increase their size and picked immature green, instead of the smaller true golden yellow of a ripe Kish Misch. Outstanding!
Our plants are propagated from the daughters of the Mr. Thompson’s original vineyard, a 115 year old vineyard on the edge of the Sutter Buttes in Sutter County. Unfortunately that old vineyard has been ripped out 🙁
Lowell Hill Beauty
Another excellent variety we have yet to positively identify. A large fruited very flavorful, round blushed purple to deep purple medium size cluster seeded grape well suited for fresh eating, juice, jelly and vinegar. This grape is immune to powdery mildew, is never sprayed and completely clean in our observations.
A 100+ year old vine vigorously growing untended in the late 1800’s mining camp of Lowell Hill in Placer County, near the Bear River at 3800’. Lowell Hill is famous for producing wine grapes, apples and one of California’s first governors.
Squire Canyon Red
This variety has stumped our efforts to identify it, but it’s so worth growing we’ve named it after its home near Dutch Flat, CA. The vine, now growing up fir and cedar trees on an old homestead, produces numerous clusters of delectable red seeded grapes, perfect for fresh or juice. Nearly immune to powdery mildew, the scourge of most grapes. Large red berries, medium size clusters are firm, complex, very flavorful and sweet. The seeded grape is great for fresh eating, jellies, juice, wine and vinegar. Yum! Ripens in late August to September at 3100′.
The mother vine is on an abandoned old homestead, surviving to this day by climbing up an adjacent pine tree, where it fruits yearly with no care. It grows in Dutch Flat, Placer County, CA at 3,100’. Dutch Flat was founded by German immigrants in 1851 and was once one of the richest gold mining locations in California. This beautiful old town, located on the Transcontinental railroad that connected the US in the 1800’s, is absolutely full of heirloom fruits and nuts, many from Gillet’s nursery. A true goldmine of history is Dutch Flat.