There have been several grape varieties throughout the world with mysterious origins and curious histories. California’s red wine grape, the Zinfandel, for example, still offers no clue to its past, yet continues to yield one of the most popular wines in memory. One of the most curious aspects of the Zinfandel grape is that it seems to flourish in California like nowhere else in the world. It is not known for sure where Zinfandel originated, though Croatia seems to be leading the list of possibilities. It is also not known how or when the vine first arrived in California. Despite its shady past, however, Zinfandel at least has a name. Not so with the inexplicable white grape of Darling Downs in Australia.
Rimfire Winery in the Darling Downs region of Australia lays claim to what may be the most unique wine produced “down under”; the vine is unidentified, and DNA tests have yet to yield a clue as to its origin. So obscure is the rare white grape, it is known only as 1893. Shortly after Rimfire was established, sometime in the mid 1990s, vineyard workers discovered a solitary vine in an area that was known to have been previously planted on the original vineyard grounds in the 1890s. It was an unusual variety which could not be readily identified so Rimfire official sent it to the Australian Wine Research Institute for DNA testing. There was no match to any known variety. Having no basis for naming the new grape, it was simply called 1893, for the approximate year it was probably last cultivated.
The grape’s origins may forever remain a mystery, but the wine produced with it is becoming increasingly well-known worldwide. The dry white wine, Rimfire 1893, is often sold out well before requests for it have dwindled.
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