''Royalty'' (also known as ''Royalty 1390'') is a rouge
Californian wine grape variety that was developed in 1938 by Dr.
Harold P. Olmo of the
University of California, Davis.
[ Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) ]
Royalty
'' Accessed: August 17th, 2012 The grape is a red fleshed
teinturier which, unlike most red wine grapes, will produce red-tinged
colored wine even without
maceration time on the skins. The grape is a
hybrid produced from the ''
Vitis vinifera''
Trousseau gris variety from the
Jura wine region of
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
[J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes'' pg 161 Oxford University Press 1996 ] and the teinturier grape
Alicante Ganzin that is itself a hybrid of a ''
Vitis rupestris'' variety and the ''Vitis vinifera'' grape
Aramon.
[ J. Robinson ''Vines Grapes & Wines'' pg 226 Mitchell Beazley 1986 ]
History
''Royalty'' was first cultivated by Dr. Olmo in 1938 at the California Agricultural Experiment Station of UC-Davis but wasn't released for commercial use until 1958. It was released at the same time as
Rubired, another Olmo teinturier with Alicante Ganzin parentage. Like Rubired, ''Royalty'' was mostly grown in the
Central Valley of California where it was used a blending grape to improve the color of red wines. However, ''Royalty'' showed itself to be more difficult to cultivate than Rubired and fell out of favor among many growers. While by the end of the 20th century there was still more than 6,000 acres (2,500 hectares) of Rubired in production in California there were only around 800 acres (320 ha) of ''Royalty'' in use.
Synonyms
Among the synonyms that Royalty has been known as include California S 26, Kek Royalti and Royalti.
References
{{American wine
Red wine grape varieties
Hybrid grape varieties