Catawba

The Story

Long before Napa Valley existed, a pink-skinned grape from the American East Coast was the most celebrated wine in the nation — and it was winning gold medals in London. Catawba is a natural hybrid of Vitis labrusca and Vitis vinifera (likely Sémillon), discovered growing along the East Coast sometime in the early 19th century and named after the Catawba River in the Carolinas. From 1825 to 1850 it was the most widely planted grape in the United States.

The story of Catawba is really the story of Nicholas Longworth, a Cincinnati lawyer and real estate magnate who became America's first great wine entrepreneur. In the 1820s Longworth planted Catawba vines along the Ohio River hillsides, and through the 1830s and 40s he built a sparkling wine empire. In 1842, when some wine accidentally re-fermented in bottle, Longworth recognized a discovery: he hired French vignerons to teach him méthode champenoise and began producing "Sparkling Catawba" — a wine that would shake the transatlantic wine world. By 1859, Ohio was the largest wine-producing state in the United States, with 2,000 acres of Catawba vines yielding over 568,000 gallons annually.

Longworth's sparkling Catawba won a gold medal at the 1851 London International Exhibition, outclassing European competitors. Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, sent a case by Longworth himself, immortalized the wine in his 1854 "Ode to Catawba Wine," comparing it favorably to Champagne and Rhine wine. Newspapers called Longworth "the founder of wine culture in America." Then the Civil War, downy mildew, and Prohibition swept it all away.

Today Catawba has found a second home in New York's Finger Lakes, where its high natural acidity makes it a natural for sparkling production. The grape typically produces pink to rosé wines with strawberry, cherry, and floral notes — the "foxy" labrusca musk is notably milder than in Concord, giving Catawba genuine elegance. It is America's forgotten champagne grape, and it is overdue for rediscovery.

Insider Story

The Longworth empire collapsed not from competition but from biology: downy mildew (Plasmopara viticola) devastated Ohio's vineyards in the late 1850s before fungicides existed. What the mildew didn't kill, the Civil War disrupted by draining farm labor. Longworth himself died in 1863. The entire American wine center of gravity shifted — first to Missouri, then eventually to California. Catawba's story is a lesson in how ecological fragility can erase a century of wine culture overnight. The grape that made America wine-famous became a footnote. Modern revivalists in the Finger Lakes are now reclaiming it, with winemakers like Liz Leidenfrost producing everything from still whites to effervescent hot-pink bubblies that would have delighted Longfellow.

Technical Deep Dive

Catawba is a natural hybrid, likely Vitis labrusca x Vitis vinifera (Sémillon), with a purplish-red skin that paradoxically yields pink and white wines when skin contact is minimized. The grape is late-ripening, requiring a long growing season — a challenge in northern climates but rewarded with naturally high acidity (TA often 8-10 g/L), making it ideal for sparkling wine via méthode champenoise. The "foxy" aromatic compound methyl anthranilate is present but at lower concentrations than in Concord, producing a more delicate musk. In still wines, winemakers limit skin contact to 12-24 hours to preserve bright strawberry and cherry characters while muting the labrusca musk. For sparkling, extended tirage aging (12-18 months) integrates the acidity beautifully. Harvest typically occurs in mid-to-late October in the Finger Lakes. The vine is moderately cold-hardy and has good disease resistance relative to pure vinifera but requires vigilance against black rot and powdery mildew.

Industry Secrets

The Catawba revival is largely driven by the "sweet wine consumer" entry point — Hazlitt 1852's "Red Cat" and "Pink Cat" are among the best-selling Finger Lakes wines by volume, proving that labrusca-based wines have a massive untapped commercial audience that fine wine gatekeepers consistently underestimate. Meanwhile, a small coterie of serious Finger Lakes winemakers are quietly making méthode champenoise sparkling Catawba that holds its own against good Crémant. The grape's biggest structural advantage in 2026: it's nearly impossible to find outside of its home regions, making local winery direct-to-consumer sales the primary channel — extremely high margin compared to traditional distribution.

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