Give a gift they’ll savour all year long. Gift a Membership Now

Mission and País re-evaluated – part 1

Mission vine planted in 1854 in Amador County

A historic grape variety is emerging from obscurity in California, at the same time as in southern Chile. See also part 2.

Mission is arguably the most disregarded yet historically important variety in North and South America. Known as País in Chile and Criolla Chica in Argentina, there are also small plantings in Mexico, where it is known as Misión. In Argentina, it was believed for years to have grown from the seed of an imported Vitis vinifera vine, a uniquely South American variety even if not exactly indigenous. But in 2007, DNA profiling proved that theory untrue. It is...