The breeder and the date
The Wikipedia page for Black Muscat says the grape was created in England in 1850 by Seward Snow, head gardener to Earl de Grey at Wrest Park, Bedfordshire. A guide on the Great British Vineyards site also gives 1850 and "R. Snow of Bedfordshire", citing the Vitis International Variety Catalogue.
Note the small mismatch: one page gives the first name Seward and the other gives the initial R. We could not open the catalogue entry itself, so we cannot say which is right. The surname Snow and the year 1850 appear in both.
A page on the Muscat family adds that the variety "originated in Victorian English greenhouses". That fits an English glasshouse origin.
The parents, by DNA
In 2003, M. Crespan published a study in the journal VITIS. Using isozymes and 30 nuclear and 5 chloroplast microsatellite markers, the paper concludes that Muscat of Hamburg is the progeny of Schiava Grossa and Muscat of Alexandria.
The two parents are different kinds of grape:
- Schiava Grossa is a dark-skinned grape. The Great British Vineyards page lists Trollinger as a common synonym, though we did not verify this independently.
- Muscat of Alexandria is a muscat grape. Wikipedia says DNA analysis shows it is a natural cross between Muscat blanc a Petits Grains and a Greek grape called Axina de Tres Bias.
This explains the two sides of the grape: a dark skin from Schiava Grossa and a muscat aroma from Muscat of Alexandria. That is our reading of the parentage, not a statement made in the sources.
A date puzzle: Hampton Court
The Great British Vineyards page also describes the famous Great Vine at Hampton Court Palace as "Schiava Grossa (synonym: Black Hamburg)", planted in 1768. Meanwhile the Wikipedia page lists "Hampton Court Vine" among Muscat Hamburg synonyms.
These cannot all be right at once. A vine planted in 1768 cannot be a cross made in 1850. The likely explanation is that the name "Black Hamburg" has been used for more than one grape, but the pages we read do not settle this. We cover the naming confusion in a separate article.
What we can say with care
- A 2003 DNA study names Schiava Grossa and Muscat of Alexandria as parents.
- Web sources credit an English gardener named Snow, working in Bedfordshire, with the cross in 1850.
- The breeder details and date were not checked against the original catalogue or a historical record.
- Names and synonyms are tangled, so older records of "Black Hamburg" may refer to a different grape.
If you need to quote the date in print, it is safer to write "credited to about 1850" than to present it as settled fact.
For Panneer growers, the point is simple. The grape that Tamil Nadu calls Panneer is generally identified as a European glasshouse variety. It is not a native Indian grape, and its route to Theni is the subject of the next article.
Frequently asked questions
Who bred Muscat Hamburg?
Web sources credit a head gardener named Snow at Wrest Park, Bedfordshire, around 1850. The first name differs between sources, so treat the detail with care.
What are the parents of Muscat Hamburg?
A 2003 DNA study in VITIS found Schiava Grossa and Muscat of Alexandria as parents.
Is the Hampton Court Great Vine a Muscat Hamburg?
The sources we read call it Schiava Grossa or Black Hamburg and give a planting year of 1768, which is before the 1850 cross. We could not resolve this.