Let's start with a little bit of history. Back in 1905, more than sixteen hundred varieties – 1671, to be exact – were cultivated at a plant nursery run by Sella & Mosca winery near Alghero, on the island of Sardinia. Sixteen hundred and seventy-one.

When I learned that an actual catalog exists that documents each of those 1671 varieties, my interest was piqued. Not because I'm any sort of historian, but because of the flood of choice that the catalog represents. In 1905! Imagine too the horticultural expertise, and the entrepreneurial initiative to propagate all of these varieties in a post-phylloxera Europe.

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Source: http://www.forbes.com/