MONDAY IN THE VINEYARD SERIES
How vines destined for wine production are propagated.
If you're a curious wine enthusiast or currently preparing for your WSET Diploma D1 or WSET 3 examination, you might find it fascinating to learn about the methods used to propagate vines for wine production.
Some of you might assume that the propagation of vines for wine production occurs by planting the seeds of specific vine berries, but this is rarely the case. In reality, planting a seed would give rise to a vine that is genetically different from its parent vine. The only methods that yield genetically identical plants, and thus enable the planting of specific varieties like for example Chardonnay or Merlot, are vegetative propagation methods such as cuttings and layering.
Vine Propagation: Cuttings
A cutting refers to a segment of a vine shoot that can be planted to establish a new plant. This method stands as the most prevalent technique for vine propagation because it offers numerous advantages:
Efficiency: By utilizing cuttings, many small segments can be taken from a single vine and propagated simultaneously, saving time and enabling the production of multiple plants at once.
Grafting on rootstocks: When using a cutting from a specific grape variety, there are two options for the grape grower: - Allow the cutting to grow roots on its own. - Graft the cutting onto a selected rootstock and let the rootstock develop roots. In practice, the majority of grape vines are grafted onto American Vine rootstocks. This offers protection from phylloxera and provides the potential for other desirable qualities, such as resistance to drought or diseases, increased vigour, and winter hardiness.
Flexibility: Grafting cuttings on rootstocks can occur either in a nursery setting, where small cuttings are grafted onto young rootstocks and nurtured in a protected and controlled environment before being planted in the grower's field, or it can happen directly in the vineyard. In the latter case, cuttings are planted directly on existing rootstocks, and the vine starts bearing fruit much faster when grafted onto an established root system, compared to starting from scratch with an entirely new plantation. This flexibility allows, for example, for a quicker change of grape variety in a vineyard.
Nursery control: When cuttings are grafted at the nursery, the nursery conducts several quality controls to ensure that both the scion (a young shoot or cane used for grafting or rooting) and the roots are healthy and free from pests and diseases.
The most common method of obtaining new planting materials, such as cuttings, is by purchasing them from a nursery. However, the availability of clones for purchase may be limited depending on the region and grape variety. This situation leads to reduced diversity and increased homogeneity in the territory.
The advantage of having uniform clones is that vineyard management becomes more straightforward since all plants exhibit similar behaviour, such as the same ripening speed and vigour. However, this uniformity also brings certain drawbacks. For instance, fewer blending options are available to create more complex wines or enhance balance. Additionally, all plants are equally susceptible to diseases, making the entire vineyard vulnerable. To address these challenges, it is common for winegrowers to plant different clones of the same variety whenever possible.
Vine Propagation: Layering
Layering is a vineyard technique employed to fill gaps resulting from factors like vine mortality. In this method, shoots from a well-established neighbouring vine are utilized to create a new vine. A cane is gently bent down and a portion of it is buried in the soil, while the tip of the cane extends upwards from the ground. Subsequently, the buried section takes root, and once these roots are firmly established, the cane connecting the new growth to the original plant is severed. As the new vine grows on its independent roots, rather than relying on a rootstock, this approach may not always be suitable. The newly formed vine lacks protection against phylloxera and may not possess certain desirable qualities, such as specific yield characteristics, that a carefully selected rootstock can offer.
Additional Resources
Below, I have listed a few YouTube videos on the topic of propagation that I found quite useful.
Grafting at the nursery
A quite old video produced by the California Association of Winegrape Growers CAWG which I believe explains really well how grafting at the nursery happens.
Cuttings developing their own roots
In This Video created by Daisy Creek Farms, Jag Singh explains very nicely how a grape can be propagated by using cuttings that will develop their own roots.
Vine propagation through Layering
I found it very difficult to find any videos about vine grape propagation through layering. However, I finally came across one this one. There are not many details but if you really don't see what layering is about this might help you understand.
If you want to know more about vine propagation including crossings, hybrids, and clones read this article.
I hope you found this article both useful and insightful. If you enjoyed it, make sure to stay tuned for my next article. Join me next Monday for more fascinating insights!
Happy week and happy studying,
Nicky
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