Orion is a white
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
grape
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.
The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...
variety of
German
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* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
origin. It was created by Dr. Gerhardt Alleweldt (1927-2005) at the
Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding in
Siebeldingen
Siebeldingen is a municipality in Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country ...
in 1964, by crossing the ''
Vitis vinifera
''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran. There are curre ...
'' variety
Optima
Optima is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed by Hermann Zapf and released by the D. Stempel AG foundry, Frankfurt, West Germany in 1958.
Though classified as a sans-serif, Optima has a subtle swelling at the terminals suggesting a glyphic s ...
with the
hybrid grape
Hybrid grapes are grape varieties that are the product of a Hybrid (biology), crossing of two or more ''Vitis'' species. This is in contrast to crossings between grape varieties of the same species, typically ''Vitis vinifera'', the European grape ...
Villard Blanc
Villard grapes are French wine hybrid grape created by French horticulturist Bertille Seyve and his father-in-law Victor Villard (father and grandfather of grape breeder Joannes Seyve). They include the dark skin Villard noir and the white-wine va ...
.
[Vitis International Variety Catalogue: Orion](_blank)
accessed on May 16, 2008
accessed on January 24, 2013 Therefore, Orion is itself a hybrid grape (interspecific crossing) rather than a pure ''Vitis vinifera''.
Orion derives its name from the mythological hunter
Orion, which gave the constellation
Orion its name.
It is also known under the synonyms Geilweilerhof GA-58-30 and Gf. GA-58-30.
Orion is grown in small quantities in the
UK at the Royal Horticultural Society's Wisley Garden, where it is used together with the
Phoenix hybrid grape to produce a dry white wine .
UK Wine Cellar Door
accessed on November 14, 2021
References
{{wine-grape-stub
Hybrid grape varieties