American vines and hybrids

The indigenous vines originally grown were Vitis labrusca and were valued for their resistance to phylloxera and their winter hardiness, although the early settlers found the grapes quite different in flavour from those of their European homelands. These native vines often hybridized by chance with other labruscas or even other American vine species, and produced a second generation of native grapes commonly grown today, of which the blue-black-skinned concord is the most planted variety. These formed the backbone of the early New York wine industry, although they are often derided today for their foxy flavour. (So pronounced is this flavour that such varieties were exempted when the US laws on varietal labelling increased the minimum permitted percentage of the cited grape variety from 51 to 75%.)