The Everest of the Orchards: Cornell University Researcher Develops a New Giant Grape Variety

Sometimes nature makes mistakes...genetic mistakes, and those mistakes lead to bigger grapes. That is, they do under the care of Dr. Bruce Reisch, professor of grapevine breeding and genetics at Cornell University, who has dedicated his life to experimenting with and growing grapes. Since beginning his work at Cornell over thirty years ago, Dr.Eisch and his team have developed over thirteen grape varieties. One of his latest accomplishments? The Everest: the largest seedless grape yet developed.

It started in 1998 with a cross between two mutated grapes with double the normal number of chromosomes - a mistake in the grape’s natural genetic code. Dr.Reisch says the greater number of chromosomes increases the size of the plant’s cells, making everything from their leaves, to their berries grow larger.

Twenty years later, the fruits of that labor are ripe for the picking. Everest Grapes are sweet and Concord-like, but nearly double the size -- slightly larger than a US quarter. They hang in large blueish bunches, and are best intended as a table grape, says Dr. Reisch, who compared their taste to that of your favorite sweet grape juice.

Dr. Reisch says there is market-value for a such a visually impressive grape. Shoppers in grocery stores, home gardeners, and professional farmers alike are drawn to the size and vibrance of the large bunches The Everest produces. Each individual berry can weigh up to seven grams.

Dr. Reisch’s foray into larger grape growing dates back to the 1980’s when he spent time in Japan collaborating with farmers experimenting with the pollination of “tetraploid grapes” - grapes with  double the normal number of chromosomes. Standard grapes like the ones you typically see at the grocery store, contain thirty-eight chromoconses. The Everest contains seventy-six.

Over the course of the past thirty years, Dr.Reisch has worked with a lot of grapes. However, he says The Everest posed a unique challenge - naming it. Dr.Reish’s team opened up the naming of his new plump grape to the public and received over 1,600 submissions from around the world. However, as they waded through suggestions, they found that most of the appropriate names were already taken and licensed by other grape growers, vineyards, and wineries. Eventually, they had to discard the results of their poll, and decided on “The Everest,” a name of their own design that they felt adequately conveyed the character of the grape.

The Everest is a  “table grape” that is great for eating, but also making jam and baking according to Reish, who says with the right recipe, the seedless Everest grape could make a great pie during the harvest season.

Vines will be available for purchase this Fall from Double A Vineyards of Fredonia in New York, who will be exclusively licensing and selling the plant in the US for the next 10 years.