Ampelography is the field of botany concerned with the identification and classification of grapevines, Vitis spp. Traditionally this has been done by comparing the shape and colour of the vine leaves and grape berries; more recently the study of vines has been revolutionised by DNA fingerprinting.
The science of ampelography began seriously in the 19th century, when it suddenly became important to understand more about the different species of vine, as they had very different resistance to disease and pests such as phylloxera.