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Appendix B. American Wild Grape Species
- University of California Press
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253 North America has one of the richest troves of wild grape species in the world, rivaled only by the valleys of central China, west of Shanghai. According to legend, Leif Ericson, the first European to land on North American shores (ca. 1000 a.d.) was so impressed by the profusion of wild grapes that he called this place “Vineland.” Because of the wildly varying geography and climate they face, the American species are localized, with no single species covering more than about one-third of the United States. It is generally accurate to say that there is a grape native to every region of the United States, southern Canada, northern Mexico, and the Caribbean. However, despite the diversity of terrain and climate, the European grape, Vitis vinifera, thrives in only a small slice of Pacific coastal North America, stretching from the tip of Baja California to mid–British Columbia. Until only very recently, vinifera grape plantings in other parts of the continent have perished time and time again from the harsh climate and disease attacks. This meant that North Americans who wanted to make wine had to rely upon the native grapes they found in the meadows, woods, and prairies of the countryside . As time went on, when they came to find interesting new “native” grapes, such as Concord, Catawba, and Norton, they were able to make better wine than before, unaware that these improved grapes were accidental crosses between native grapes and imported vinifera, which had lived just long enough to fertilize a wild grape with pollen. Thus, the Old Americans and direct producers. Most important for our story, of course, is the fact that many of the American species thrived in phylloxera-infested terrain. Because of this, they were an invaluable source of resistance against phylloxera, either as producers of wine grapes—direct or hybrid—or as rootstocks for vinifera scion vines. Not all of the twenty or so American species were equally important for the reconstitution of French and other vignobles. Among them there are six of major significance: appendix b American Wild Grape Species 254 | Appendix B Vitis aestivalis (including V. aestivalis lincecumi), V. berlandieri, V. labrusca, V. riparia, and V. rupestris. These species are widely distributed geographically. It is useful to discuss each of these species in turn, describing some of their characteristics, and pointing out how the species was used in the battle against phylloxera. vitis aestivalis (and v. aestivalis lincecumii) Aestivalis and its subspecies V. aestivalis Lincecumii are vines from upland country, frequently associated with oak trees. They are real climbers: I have seen native aestivalis vines seventy-five feet up an oak tree. Not especially hardy, this species ranges from mid-Michigan (in the form of the subspecies V. aestivalis argentifolia) to roughly mid-Georgia. While the species is quite resistant to phylloxera, it has one fault preventing it from functioning as a rootstock : it does not root at all well from cuttings. The main service provided by aestivalis in the war against phylloxera was the provision of numerous highquality hybrid wine grapes. Of all the American species, aestivalis most closely approaches the wine quality of traditional vinifera grapes by a large margin. Norton, Jacquez, and Herbemont, among the Old Americans most used as direct producers, are aestivalis hybrids. Additionally, a surprisingly large number of the hybrid direct producers are descendants of the original J70 aestivalis lincecumii × rupestris hybrid vine created by Herman Jaeger in Neosho, Missouri , and sent to Eugène Contassot in France. Because of these four vines, aestivalis “blood” is now present in grapes in nearly every wine-growing region in the world. vitis berlandieri T.V. Munson led Pierre Viala to this vine deep in the heart of Texas, and the crisis of planting in France’s white soils suddenly seemed headed toward a solution . Of all the American vines, V. berlandieri can best withstand alkaline, chalky soils. Unfortunately, as the long Berlandieri Wars illustrated, the solution was neither simple nor easy to reach. While pure berlandieri resists phylloxera well and thrives in chalky soils, it does not root easily, and thus it can be propagated only with great difficulty. After trying all sorts of methods to induce rooting in pure species plants, everyone gave up. Millardet’s next proposal was to plant berlandieri seeds and graft to the first-year plant. This solution had been tried before, with riparia, and had failed due to the ordinary genetic variation among offspring. It failed with berlandieri for the...