Today Foundation Plant Services, UC Davis, released four chapters of a book entitled Grapes of the United States written by FPS staff historian Nancy Sweet. These and future chapters will profile the history of the clean plant program at FPS, the growth of the wholesale grapevine nursery industry in California, and profiles of the cultivars and selections in the FPS foundation vineyards in Davis.
The four chapters that were made available today feature the Black Grapes of Bordeaux, Sauvignon blanc and the Sauternes, the Pinot group of cultivars, and Chardonnay and other white grapes of Burgundy. One of the chapters, the Pinots, is all new material that has not previously appeared in FPS publications. The remaining three chapters were developed and expanded from articles in editions of the former FPS Grape Program Newsletter.
The content of the book will be derived in large part from documents and photographs in the FPS archives and files of the Department of Special Collections, Shields Library, UC Davis. The scope of the topics for the intended 20 chapters is extensive and ambitious. The book will be “a work in progress” for some time. New chapters will be posted periodically as they become available and will be announced on this page. The book may be accessed at http://fps.ucdavis.edu/grapebook