Wine Grape Rootstocks
(book excerpts)Until the mid-1800s, European vineyards, planted with V. vinifera grape varieties, consisted of own-rooted vines. This practice was forced to change when the phylloxera root aphid, Daktulosphaira vitifoliae, native to eastern North America, entered France attached to imported roots and soon spread throughout the continent. By the 1880s, French and later other European vineyards were nearly destroyed because they were growing on highly susceptible own-rooted varieties of vinifera, which proved to be phylloxera-sensitive. American grape varieties that evolved in the presence of phylloxera are tolerant to their feeding, meaning the vines can survive and be productive in the presence of phylloxera. Vinifera grapevines are susceptible (have no tolerance) to feeding by phylloxera. While many native varieties can be grown successfully on their own roots, V. vinifera and many hybrid varieties require grafting to a rootstock that provides resistance to phylloxera. Aside from phylloxera resistance, rootstocks can be used to combat other soil-borne pests, primarily nematodes. They may also be used to overcome vineyard problems such as drought, adaptability to high pH soils, adaptability to saline soils, adaptability to low pH soils, and adaptability to wet or poorly drained soils. Numerous reports have also demonstrated that rootstocks significantly impact vine growth, yield, fruit quality, and wine quality. These effects occur in a more or less indirect manner and are consequences of interactions between environmental factors and the physiology of the scion and rootstock varieties employed.
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Topics Within This Chapter:
- Rootstock Species
- North American Species
- Vitis rupestris
- Vitis berlandieri
- Vitis riparia
- Vitis champinii
- North American Hybrids
- V. riparia X V. rupestris
- V. berlandieri X V. riparia
- V. berlandieri X V. rupestris
- Choosing the Right Rootstocks
- Resistance to Phylloxera
- Resistance to Nematodes
- Environmental Tolerance
- Drought Tolerance
- Waterlogged Soils
- Soil Acidity
- Soil Salinity
- Calcareous Soils
- Scion Performance
- Vine Vigor
- Mineral Nutrition
- Ripening Tendency
- Grapevine Rootstock Selections
- V. riparia x V. rupestris Crosses
- Couderc 3309 (3309C)
- Millardet et de Grasset 101-14 (101-14 Mgt)
- Schwarzmann
- V. berlandieri x V. riparia Crosses
- Couderc 161-49 (161-49C)
- Kober 125AA (125AA)
- Kober 5BB (5BB)
- Millardet et de Grasset 420A (420A Mgt)
- Selection Oppenheim (SO4)
- Teleki 5C (5C)
- V. berlandieri x V. rupestris Crosses
- Paulsen 1103 (1103P)
- Richter 99 (99R)
- Richter 110 (110R)
- Ruggeri 140 (140Ru)
- V. riparia x V. solonis Crosses
- Couderc 1616 (1616C)
- V. cordifolia x V. riparia x V. rupestris Crosses
- Mal�gue 44-53 (44-53M)
- V. riparia
- Riparia Gloire
- V. rupestris
- Rupestris du Lot (St. George)
- V. champinii
- Ramsey
