Criolla is a term used in the name of several
grape varieties, in particular varieties found in
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
, the most common of which is
Criolla Grande and another which is
Criolla Chica.
The term Criollas is also used collectively to refer to a group of presumably American-born
cultivar
A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...
s the European grapevine ''
Vitis vinifera
''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern ...
'', much in the same way as many other uses of the term ''Criollo''. The Criollas group of grape varieties also include e.g. the three Argentine
Torrontés
Torrontés is a white grape variety, mostly produced and known in Argentine wine, Argentina, producing fresh, aromatic (wine), aromatic wines with moderate acidity (wine), acidity, smooth texture and mouthfeel as well as distinctive peach and apr ...
varieties (Torrontés Mendocino, Torrontés Riojano, and Torrontés Sanjuanino) and
Torontel (also known as Moscatel Amarillo). A common feature of the Criollas group is a better resistance to certain types of environmental stress, such as low water availability and high salt concentrations, than many traditional European grape varieties.
Evaluation of diversity among Argentine grapevine (''Vitis vinifera'' L.) varieties using morphological data and AFLP markers
, Liliana Martínez, Pablo Cavagnaro, Ricardo Masuelli, and José Rodríguez, Electronic Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 6 No. 3, Issue of December 15, 2003 Presumably, these varieties have been selected by pioneering viticulturists for these properties, which made them easier to grow in early South American vineyards.
References
Grape varieties
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