Ortega is a grape

Grape

A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...

 variety used for white wine. It was created in 1948 by Hans Breider at the Bayerischen Landesanstalt für Wein-, Obst- und Gartenbau in Würzburg

Würzburg

Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....

 and was released with varietal protection in 1981. It is a cross between Müller-Thurgau

Müller-Thurgau

Müller-Thurgau is a variety of white grape which was created by Hermann Müller from the Swiss Canton of Thurgau in 1882. It is a crossing of Riesling with Madeleine Royale. It is used to make white wine in Germany, Austria, Northern Italy, Hungary, England, in Australia, Czech Republic, Slovakia,...

 and Siegerrebe

Siegerrebe

Siegerrebe is a white wine grape that is grown primarily in Germany with some plantings in England, Washington State, and British Columbia's North Okanagan. Siegerrebe was created by German viticulturalist Dr. Georg Scheu in 1929 at a grape-breeding institute in Alzey in Rheinhessen, by crossing...

. Breider chose to name the variety in honour of the Spanish poet and philosopher José Ortega y Gasset

José Ortega y Gasset

José Ortega y Gasset was a Spanish liberal philosopher and essayist working during the first half of the 20th century while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism and dictatorship. He was, along with Nietzsche, a proponent of the idea of perspectivism.-Biography:José Ortega y Gasset was...

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Ortega ripens early, is not sensitive to frost and reaches quite high must weight

Must weight

Must weight is a measure of the amount of sugar in grape juice , and hence indicates the amount of alcohol that could be produced if it is all fermented to alcohol, rather than left as residual sugar...

s, typically 20 degrees Oechsle higher than Müller-Thurgau. It is therefore often used for sweet wines, which are considered to improve with cellaring. Ortega wines have aromas of Muscat

Muscat (grape and wine)

The Muscat variety of grapes of the species Vitis vinifera is widely grown for wine, raisins and table grapes. Their color ranges from white to near black. Muscat almost always has a pronounced sweet floral aroma. Muscat grapes are grown around the world...

 and peach

Peach

The peach tree is a deciduous tree growing to tall and 6 in. in diameter, belonging to the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae. It bears an edible juicy fruit called a peach...

 and are high in extract.

Ortega is also used as a table grape

Table grape

Table grapes are grapes intended for consumption while they are fresh, as opposed to grapes grown for wine production, juice production, or for drying into raisins....

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In 2006, there were 686 hectares (1,695.1 acre) of Ortega in Germany, with a decreasing tendency. It is also found in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

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