Beta (grape)

Beta is a winter-hardy variety of North American grape derived from a cross of the Vitis labrusca-based cultivar Concord and a selection of Vitis riparia, the wild riverbank grape, called Carver). It is an extremely cold-hardy grape that is self-fertile. This variety is grown successfully in Finland and was widely planted in Minnesota in the early 20th century. It ripens in late September in New York State. It bears dark, blue-black fruit that is used for jellies, fruit juices, etc. but rarely for wine.

History

Beta was released by Louis Suelter, and named for his wife. Because of this, the proper pronunciation is actually "Bett-uh", but the name is more commonly assumed to follow the pronunciation of the Greek letter. Suelter released a number of other cultivars from the same cross, including the equally hardy Suelter grape.

References

Hybrid grape varieties Grape ( Vitis ) species V. acerifolia V. adenoclada V. aestivalis V. amurensis V. × andersonii V. arizonica V. balansana V. barbata V. bashanica V. bellula V. berlandieri V. betulifolia V. biformis V. blancoi V. bloodworthiana V. bourgaeana V. × bourquina V. bryoniifolia V. californica V. × champinii V. chunganensis V. chungii V. cinerea V. coignetiae V. davidii V. × doaniana V. erythrophylla V. fengqinensis V. ficifolia V. flexuosa V. girdiana V. hancockii V. heyneana V. hui V. jacquemontii V. jaegeriana V. jinggangensis V. Kelungensis V. labrusca V. lanceolatifoliosa V. lincecumii V. longquanensis V. luochengensis V. menghaiensis V. mengziensis V. monticola V. mustangensis V. nesbittiana V. × novae-angliae V. palmata V. peninsularis V. piasezkii V. pilosonerva V. popenoei V. pseudoreticulata V. retordii V. riparia V. romanetii V. rotundifolia V. rupestris V. ruyuanensis V. shenxiensis V. shuttleworthii V. silvestrii V. sinocinerea V. × slavinii V. tiliifolia V. treleasei V. tsoii V. vinifera V. vulpina V. wenchouensis V. wilsonae V. wuhanensis V. xunyangensis V. Yeshanensis V. yunnanensis V. zhejiang-adstricta Notable hybrids Agawam Alexander Aurore Baco blanc Baco noir Beta Black Spanish Blanc du Bois Breidecker Cabernet blanc Cabernet Cortis Cascade Cassady Catawba Cayuga White Chambourcin Chancellor Chardonel Chelois Clinton Corot noir Couderc noir De Chaunac Edelweiss Flora Flot rouge Frontenac Goethe Herbert Himrod seedless Ives noir Jaeger 70 Kay Gray Kyoho L'Acadie blanc La Crosse Lakemont seedless Landal noir Landot noir Léon Millot Malverina Marechal Foch Marechal Joffre Marquette Massasoit Melody Merzling Muscat bleu Niagara Noiret Norton Olmo grapes Onaka Orion Phoenix Plantet Ravat blanc Regent Requa Rogers' Hybrids Rondo Royalty Seibel grapes Severny Seyval blanc Seyval noir Solaris St. Pepin Thomcord Traminette Triomphe d'Alsace Valvin muscat Vidal blanc Vignoles Villard grapes Zarya severa