RARE GRAPE VARIETAL RESOURCE

Introduction

My name is Ken Hayden.

I have been actively working in the Ontario (Canada) wine domain since 1995. Following 5 years of internship with a reputable wine agency and completing the International Sommelier Guild program in 1997, I registered and launched Appellation Wines in 2000.

Seeking a niche sector in the market, I became cognizant of an untapped segment - rare indigenous varietal wines, and headed off to Vinitaly in Verona in 2009 to meet producers, sample a large selection many of which are, even to this day, virtually unknown outside of their country of origin, and introduce them to sommeliers and wine enthusiasts alike in Ontario.

Production, in these times of standardization of food products, is so limited in many instances that these wines are seldom exported. Now that we've created these monocultures that only grow a few varieties of each crop (product), if something happens to just one of these varieties, it can have a dramatic impact upon our food supply. What sets these fine indigenous wines apart is that the grapes are often grown exclusively in very select locations (at times only one winery). All too often the vines on which these grapes grow are, to this day, uprooted, face extinction, lost, forgotten, overwhelmed by undergrowth, or overlooked by human neglect; only to occasionally be recovered by research or happenstance.

After years of research and sampling from Portugal to Georgia, I am astonished, even to this day, as to how few of these incredibly diverse wines, both flavor and texture-wise, are seldom, if ever, available at our local liquor stores.

In an attempt to help alleviate this bias I set out, in 2017, to build a platform - Autoctovino® - that seeks to support the efforts of wineries and importers alike who recognize that we shouldn't be confined to a fraction of the varietal options that account for about 90% of all wine presently sold globally.   

Autoctovino®'s primary objective, with this platform, is to globally promote:

• Rare indigenous grape varietals seldom found outside of their country of origin
• Wineries that grow and bottle wines using rare indigenous varietals, primarily as mono-varietals.
• Importers that market these wineries’ products in their respective markets.

Putting things in perspective

VIVC (Vitis International Variety Catalogue - www.vivc.de) lists more than 10,000 grape varietals globally suitable for the production of wine, the large majority of which are grown on 500 or fewer hectares, respectively.

 “Native wine grapes hail from a particular place and region, and express a terroir unlike that of grapes cultivated anywhere else in the world. They are also specifically adapted to the environment in which they grow, representing the most ecologically friendly agriculture possible.” – Ian D’Agata, Club Oenologique.

As cited in Which Winegrape Varieties are Grown Where? (Kym Anderson – Univ. of Adelaide), perhaps fewer than 500 of the 10,000 varietals cited above are grown on 500 or more hectares, respectively.

Autoctovino’s inception and objective

In 2009, Ken Hayden, with fourteen years’ experience selling wine in Ontario (Canada), set out to find a niche in the spirited provincial market for his agency, Appellation Wines, which would differentiate his company’s portfolio from that of the competition. With Jancis Robinson's pocket Guide to Wine Grapes in hand as an introductory reference, he unearthed what would become an impassionate longing to consolidate the abundant information on rare indigenous varietals scattered on the web in one platform - Autoctovino®

Autoctovino's primary objective, since its inception, has been to consolidate information pertaining to the rarer (less than 500 hectares globally, individually) indigenous varietals in one platform, providing pertinent data and historical information while endeavoring to create a larger market presence for them. 

As there is growing evidence that rare indigenous varietals are being sought by more wine enthusiasts, keen to find and familiarize themselves with something different, Autoctovino’s platform aims not only to facilitate both wineries to find export markets and distributors to source product but also to provide sommeliers and enthusiasts with access for both educational and sourcing objectives.

Though the community that this platform aspires to serve is potentially large, it lacks cohesion. As established as the large, more mainstream portion of the wine world is today, a smaller sector which accounts for about 10% of the global hectares but perhaps in excess of 90% of varietal options is, only recently, starting to make its presence felt.

As the Autoctovino® platform will be continually evolving, we invite interested parties, be it as a winery, importer/distributor, contributor, social media facilitator or whatever role you deem suitable to join our growing community and make this a comprehensive source