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Grape Variety: Assýrtiko

Variety Name Assýrtiko
Common Synonyms Assirtico
All Synonyms Arcytico, Assirtico, Assyrtico, Assyrtiko, Asurtico, Asyrtico, Asyrtiko
Countries of Origin Greece
Species Vitis vinifera
References
Berry Color White
Uses Wine
Comments Assýrtiko is one of the best known Greek varieties outside Greece. It is a white grape cultivar that maintains a high level of acidity even in hot Mediterranean summers. Although it is now planted throughout Greece, Assýrtiko is noted for being the predominant variety used for wines on the island of Santorini. The cultivar reportedly is suitable for crisp and structured white wines, as well as dessert wines. Robinson et al. WINE GRAPES, page 61 (2012); Boutaris, Mihalis. 2000. Thesis, Master of Science in Horticulture, University of California, Davis.

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Assýrtiko Selections

Information about:          Selection Numbers     |     Registration Status
  Assýrtiko 01
Registration Status Registered Registered is the ultimate status in the California Department of Food & Agricultures Grapevine Registration & Certification Program. Registered selections have successfully completed all disease testing required by the regulations. Registered selections have also been confirmed as true to variety by experts using visual observations, DNA-based testing or both.
Protocol 2010 Qualifies for Protocol 2010.
Source Greece, via National Clonal Germplasm Repository at Davis
Treatments Microshoot tip tissue culture therapy
Comments Shortly after World War II, Dr. H.P. Olmo (former Professor in the Department of Viticulture & Enology, UC Davis) contacted Professor B.D. Krimbas, who was at the time the authority on Greek cultivars and author of an extensive and definitive Greek ampelography (Hellenike Ampelographia). Krimbas was responsible for a large grapevine collection at the University of Athens. Olmo obtained many Greek cultivars from that collection. This selection was collected by Olmo from that university vineyard in 1948 and was eventually donated by him to the USDA-ARS National Clonal Germplasm Repository (NCGR) at Davis, California, in 1983 (DVIT 0645). FPS obtained the original material from the NCGR in 2004. After testing positive for virus, Assýrtiko 01 underwent microshoot tip tissue culture disease elimination therapy in 2007 and ultimately qualified for the FPS Classic Foundation Vineyard in 2011.