a hybrid is a new grape variety that was produced from a cross pollination of two different grape species. in the early history of american winemaking, grape growers would cross the european "vitis vinifera" vines with american vine varieties such as "vitis labrusca" to create french-american hybrids that were more resistant to american grape diseases such as downy and powdery mildew as well as phylloxera. when the phylloxera epidemic of the mid to late 19th century hit europe, some growers in european wine regions experimented with using hybrids until a solution involving grafting american rootstocks to "vinifera" varieties was found. eventually, the use of hybrids in wine production declined with their use formally outlawed by european wine laws in the 1950s.