Alexander (also known as Tasker's Grape[1]) is a spontaneous cross of vines from which the first commercial wines in America were made.
It was discovered in 1740 in the neighborhood of Springgettsbury, Philadelphia, in a vineyard where James Alexander (d. 1778), Thomas Penn's gardener, had originally planted cuttings of Vitis vinifera in 1683.
The Alexander was the basis for the first successful North American wine industry over much of the east coast, in Pennsylvania in the 1790s, in Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, and in Indiana in 1806.
[citation needed] The Alexander grape may be extinct, and it is not known if any live material of the variety still exists.
In the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains near the Hocking Hills Le Petit Chevalier Vineyards and Farm Winery provides guests the opportunity to taste Alexander wine from vines grown in the vineyard.