Criolla is a term used in the name of several

grape varieties This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species, including those unimportant to agriculture, see ''V ...

, in particular varieties found in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, the most common of which is

Criolla Grande Criolla Grande (also known as Criolla and Criolla Grande Sanjuanina) is a red wine grape commonly found in Argentina. It is different from the Chilean wine grape Pais, also known as ''Criolla Chica'', but ampelographers believe that both grapes ...

and another which is

Criolla Chica Pais is a red wine grape that has played a prominent role in the Chilean wine industry. Up until the turn of the 21st century, it was Chile's most planted variety until it was overtaken by Cabernet Sauvignon. Today it is most commonly used in the ...

. The term Criollas is also used collectively to refer to a group of presumably American-born

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s the European grapevine ''

Vitis vinifera ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern ...

'', much in the same way as many other uses of the term ''Criollo''. The Criollas group of grape varieties also include e.g. the three Argentine

Torrontés Torrontés is a white grape variety, mostly produced and known in Argentine wine, Argentina, producing fresh, aromatic (wine), aromatic wines with moderate acidity (wine), acidity, smooth texture and mouthfeel as well as distinctive peach and apr ...

varieties (Torrontés Mendocino, Torrontés Riojano, and Torrontés Sanjuanino) and Torontel (also known as Moscatel Amarillo). A common feature of the Criollas group is a better resistance to certain types of environmental stress, such as low water availability and high salt concentrations, than many traditional European grape varieties.Evaluation of diversity among Argentine grapevine (''Vitis vinifera'' L.) varieties using morphological data and AFLP markers
, Liliana Martínez, Pablo Cavagnaro, Ricardo Masuelli, and José Rodríguez, Electronic Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 6 No. 3, Issue of December 15, 2003 Presumably, these varieties have been selected by pioneering viticulturists for these properties, which made them easier to grow in early South American vineyards.

References

Grape varieties {{wine-grape-stub