About the FPS Grape Registry

Welcome to the website for the FPS Grape Registry. Many of you may think that this site looks familiar, and you would be correct! The ‘FPS Grape Registry’ seeks to preserve and display in an updated format the details on FPS grapevine selections previously included on the National Grape Registry.

FPS has a large publicly-available foundation collection of wine, table, juice, raisin and rootstock grape varieties that was started in 1958. The collection in 2024 has grown to 570 varieties consisting of 1,470 individual selections. The main purpose of this site is to serve as a catalogue for grape growers, winemakers and commercial nurseries seeking to determine what varieties and selections are available at FPS, as well as the origin or identity of those selections. The high-quality material in the Russell Ranch Foundation Vineyard is particularly in great demand.

Many of you periodically inquire as to new grape varieties and selections in the ‘pipeline’ at FPS. We have been particularly diligent in including here a comprehensive list of those Vines in Progress, meaning those still in testing, treatment and quarantine. That list will help avoid duplicate importations and testing of the same varieties and allow grape growers and winemakers speedier access to new varieties of interest.

Several familiar features from the NGR are continued in the FPS Grape Registry. The site is easily searchable. Many varieties and selections are already illustrated with photographs. Our ultimate goal is to depict as many varieties as possible with the assistance of our talented FPS photography team. We are proud to share these photos with others and request only that you give the ‘Regents of the University of California’ credit for the image.

You may be wondering where you can purchase FPS foundation grapevine material. FPS does accommodate requests for direct sale of dormant cuttings and mist-propagated plants on their own roots. However, most customers wish to buy more buds or vines than FPS can supply directly, and we do not sell grafted vines. The bulk of sales of FPS vine material is done through the commercial nurseries that participate in the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program. We have provided a section in this site listing the California R&C Grapevine Nurseries.

I hope you find this website useful and easy to use.

Nancy Sweet