Catawba, Concord, Zinfindal (1853, 1862, 1867)

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   These four books are excellent for American grape culture of this period.
I'll re-check the American Periodical Series tomorrow.  OED and
Merriam-Webster both have 1880 for "zinfindel," a subject of much scholarly
research.
   Note the spelling "zinfindal" (for "zinfandel") in these materials.  Just
another reason why you can't simply check a modern term into the
databases--spelling is often very different.



A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE CULTURE AND TREATMENT OF THE GRAPE VINE
by J. Fisk Allen
New York: C. M. Saxton
1853

Pg. 13:  LIST OF VARIETIES OF GRAPES. (...)
Zinfindal, one vine.

Pg. 308:
   _Zinfindal._--The bunches are large, often with two shoulders on the same
side nearly as large as the main bunch; the berries are medium size, round,
and very black, with a thick bloom; requires to hang several weeks after
coloring before it is ripe.  I cannot find this grape described in any book.
Prince, in his treatise, mentions, as a new grape from Hungary, one named
Zinfardel; this may be the same.

Pg. 319:
   _Catawba._--This grape is said, by Mr. Adlum, to be a native of Maryland.
It is one of the hardiest and most productive of the American varieties.  The
berries are red, or purple, inclining to black.  These two varieties are now
so extensively cultivated, and their good qualities as table fruit and for
wine are so well established, that it is unnecessary to say more of them.  It
also has the foxy flavor, and requires a longer season than the Isabella.
(No "Concord" here--ed.)


OPEN AIR GRAPE CULTURE
by John Phin
New York: C. M. Saxton
1862

Pg. 251:  CATAWBA.
   This is the great wine grape of the SOuth.  It was first introduced by
Major Adlum, of Georgetown, D. C., and has been subsequently patronized by N.
Longworth, Esq., the father of American wine culture.
   Bunches medium size, loose, shouldered.  Berries large and round or very
slightly oval.  Skin rather thick, pale red in the shade, deeper red in the
sun, and covered with a lilac bloom.  Juicy, sweet, musky.  Should be allowed
to hang till fully ripe.  Downing states, that _unless_ fully ripe it is more
musky than the Isabella.  Prince, on the other hand, says, that when fully
ripe it is quite musky.  Our own experience leads us to think that it is more
musky when ripe than when unripe.

Pg. 252:  CONCORD.
   Though by no means a fine grape, the Concrod is valuable from its quality
of ripening ten days or so before the Isabella, and consequently maturing in
a large range of country where that grape fails.  It is very vigorous, hardy,
and productive.  C. Downing describes it as follows:
  "Bunch rather compact, large, shouldered.  Berries large, globular, almost
black, thickly covered with bloom.  Skin rather thick, with more of the
native pungency and aroma than the Isabella, which it resembles, but does not
quite equal in quality.  Flesh moderately juicy, rather buttery, very sweet,
with considerable toughness and acidity in its pulp."
(Pg. 253--ed.)   The Concord grape becomes more foxy the longer it is kept,
hence two persons, one of whom ate the fruit fresh from the vine, and the
other obtained it only after it had been gathered some time, might form very
different ideas as to its quality.
(No "zinfindal"--ed.)


VINEYARD CULTURE
by A. Du Breuil
with notes and adaptations to American culture
by John A. Warder
Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co.
1867

Pg. 42:
   _Black "Pinot."_...
   _Reddish "Pinot."_...
   _Moorish "Pinot."...
   _"Meunier."_...
Pg. 43:
   _Sirah (little and great)._
Pg. 49:  _Catawba._--N. Carolina.  This excellent variety is too well known
to need a description; few sorts equal it in flavor and other good qualities.
 Its failure, from ort, has discouraged planters from increasing it, but no
one should destroy a vineyard of this fine grape.
Pg. 50:  _Concord._--Massachusetts.  Well known, and everywhere successful;
hardy and productive; yields a large quantity of wine--1000 gallons per acre,
says Hussman.  This has been called the grape for the million.
(No "zinfindal"--ed.)


HYATT'S HAND-BOOK OF GRAPE CULTURE
by T. Hart Hyatt
San Francisco: H. H. Bancroft and Company
1867

Pg. 149:  FEHER SZAGOS OR ZAGOS.
Pg. 162:  ZINFINDAL.
   Bunches generally almost equally divided into two long shoulders, amking a
large cluster; berries medium, round, very black, covered with a thick bloom;
sprightly acid, becoming good when fully ripe.  Makes a good wine grape in
California.
Pg. 172:  CATAWBA
   Bunches medium size, shouldered; berries large, round, pale red; sweet,
foxy flavor.  Succeeds well in California.  It originated in North Carolina.
Pg. 172:  CONCORD.
   Bunches large, shouldered; berries large, round, black; swqeet, foxy.
Ripens in California in September.


ANGELS' VISITS:
AN INQUIRY INTO THE MYSTERY OF ZINFANDEL
by David Darlington
New York: Henry Holt and Company
1991

Pg. 64:  Sullivan haded me a copy of the result, a heavuly footnoted article
entitled "Zinfandel: A True Vinifera," published in a 1982 issue ofr the
_Vinifera Wine Growers Journal_.  In the introduction, Sullivan wrote: "The
Zinfandel was a moderately popular table grape grown in New England uder
glass as early as the 1930's.  It was brought to California by New England
horticulturists in the early 1850's.  I have developed a hypothesis, only now
very faintly supported by Old World primary sources, that the wine was
brought to New England from England as a table grape.  Colonel Haraszthy is
not guilty of having claimed to have brought the vine to California.  It was
his son years later that made the claim for his father."


(Recent research has credited Dalmatia, not Hungary.  I'll be leaving for
Slovenia and Croatia and Sicily within 60 days, but I can't say that it's to
solve "zinfandel"...See:
http://www.zinfandel.org/about_zin/zindev.htm
--ed.)