A phenotype is defined by Dr Ian D’Agata (2014) as ‘what an individual [eg vine] looks like, or the observed characteristics of an organism, which are the result of interactions between genotype and environment.’
‘The phenotype refers to the appearance of an individual or a plant. In humans, for example, the phenotype is the way people look. Grape varieties that exhibit a great deal of morphological and physiological differences can be referred to as having high intravarietal variability. More specifically, this is the situation where members of the same variety will look di!erent from each other—this super”cial di!erence often being one of the biggest causes of mis-identi”cation of grape varieties. Nebbiolo, for example, is one of Italy’s most ancient cultivars; having been around for so long, it has invariably built up more mutations than recent varieties. As such, Nebbiolo presents more phenotypes or is described as having high intravarietal variability, (Italian Wine Unplugged (Positive Press, 2017, p.42)
Bibliography
Dr Ian D’Agata, Native Wine Grapes of Italy (University of California Press, 2014), p569
Oxford Companion to Wine 4th edition ed. Jancis Robinson MW and Julia Harding MW (Oxford University Press, 2015).
Italian Wine Unplugged (Positive Press, 2017,) p.42