Ah, phylloxera...I could bore you all for days...and I guess I'll try... I'm not a practicing Steiner winegrower, but I have an open mind. I've continued to research, and observe in the field, and use what I see working as I go. I guess I'm sort of borrowing from here and there like a magpie - I keep Thun & and the Stella Natura in the background, checking against my own recrods of grafting takes and plantings...I got lots from Wolf Storl's book, Thompkin & Bird's two books, Joly, Thun, excerpts of Kolisko's work kindly posted (and mailed to me) by members of this list during my first year on it (I was off for the past 12 or 13 months)...and, recently, as sort of a needed confirmation, something I'd recommend to all on the list - Patrick Matthews, Real Wine (Mitchel Beazely, 2000). I've also enjoyed an received a lot of intelligent direction from the postings of Hugh Lovell (and am presently enjoying his book on many levels), and from the feared Greg Willis...and I've been lucky and had maybe a dozen French Bio-Dynamic wines, ciders and Perrys over the past year.
(Also, while I remember, I should point out there is Hilary Wright's book on organic wines - I can't find my copy right at the moment to cite details of publisher etc.) I'll try more of the Steiner remedies I sense can do good over this year from my perspective as a farmer, and over the coming years, trying to reach an agriculture I feel comfortable and at peace with. Personally, with, as I say, great borrowings from some of the inspiring minds and souls working in BD, I find I am more at the core working with the old Anglo-saxon tradition that emerged between the two world wars - Albert Howard, Lionel Piction George MacCarrison, Eve Balfour, Joseph Concannouer and J.C. Bose....and new contributors, like Dr. Elaine Ingham. Anyway, the point was phylloxera... I have been growing own-rooted vinifera sicne 1995, with some hand-grafted vines on local, lime-tolerant riparia and some more exotic French rootstocks (exotic, at least for North America). Most of my Pinot Noir is own-rooted. Primarily this was to speed getting my own mothervines and hope for bud-sports (I have one - a tiny-berried white pinot) and my own environmentally adapted clones. It also was to see what the vine could tolerate, in a non-chemically treated vineyard...and in a Canadian climate. Early Canadian studies on phylloxera in the 1960s showed a 90 to 99% mortality in overwintering phylloxera in Canada (this is one of the native homes of the louse). Unfortunately, the last winter - and so far this winter - low temperatures have been almost 12 C warmer than usual, with little or no ground frost. Last year, I guess predictably, especially given the warm winter, in July, the dreaded effects of the louse showed up in my pinot vines now 5 to 7 years old. Combined with the very dry summer, the pressure from the phylloxera caused about 6 leaves on each cane to gradually defolliate and drop early. It certainly saved leaf-plucking to expose the fruit, but was disconcerting. The vines continued to grow, keeping good, properly declining green growth tips, and the leaves that did gradually yellow and abscise were leaves past their peak photosynthetic production and were becoming consumers rather than producers Obviously the vine had a coping strategy. But it did give me pause. I am not sure whether any more own-rooted vines will go in on my vineyard...though I am considering a small plot planted in the old Burgundian and Champagne methods, which still keep a few patches of own rooted vines going in France. Whether it is the old method, or the soils on these vineyards that seem to work is not known. Science can't tell. Now the French BD vineyard guru Joly in his book Wines from Sky and Earth said he was going to replant some of his vineyard with own-rooted vines and new seedlings to see whether they would thrive in his BD vineyard. I haven't seen anything on if or how this experiment is doing. I'd be curious if anyone else knew anything. For those interested in phylloxera and the rush of 'science' and committees to, er, solve the problem, George Ordish's book The Great Blight is probably the best book written to date in english. Copies may sometimes be found on abebooks or another good internet site. There is one great mystery that has caused lots of debate, which is the appearance of what looks an awful lot like phylloxera turning up in 14th C Burgundy. From monastic records Camillie Rodie (Le Clos Vougeot, 1949) wrote that, "Dom Menrique realtes in the annals of Citeaux that he read in the convent library that the disease consisted of legions of tiny insects which attached themselves to the roots like clusters of lice. The leaves first turned yellow, the vinestock dried out and, finally, the vine died. The monks had to leave the domaine fallow for some time...It took more than a century to replant the vineyards of Burgundy." Dr. Ingham has written on some California data that shows that a lot of phylloxera damage can be reduced in organic vineyards - primarily, it seems in beeter microlife in the soil preventing the necrotic bacteria and fungi from infecting the wound site left by phylloxera - which seems to be the true damage the vine casues, besides a dangerous level of sap diversion in dry years when the vine can't overcome the diversion. I have a summary of the first real study looking at this, but like Hilary's book, I can't find it at the moment. I think even with healthy, content plants, sometimes other events can overcome defenses...and I think that is what I saw last year for the first time. I suspect it will be worse this year...and will be in my grafting shed from late Feb. on to get grafted vines ready. I haven't given up on the prospect of own rooted vines, but only if I can help my current vines overcome the problem will I think more seriously about it. Cheers, Geoff Heinricks Prince Edward Co., Ontario >Incidentally, I recall a little while ago (possibly during my pre-Christmas >panic, when I made no time to reply) a posting from someone, possibly Greg >Willis, bemoaning the perceived bad reputation of biodynamic wine because of >the poor quality example of a leading BD grower. My opinion is that this >refers exclusively to the American market/perception. In Europe the picture >is very different. There, as I discovered during research in 1999, more and >more of the top young producers are converting to biodynamic practices on >quality grounds. It seems to me that there is a very clear message emerging >from high quality French winemakers that biodynamics assists them in >producing better and better wines. And that's a very good thing! > >Regards >Hilary > > > > From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2002 1:22 PM >Subject: Re: Grape Cuttings > > >> >> In a message dated 2/3/02 4:34:18 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: >> >> << Vinifera grapes-grafted >> >> Issue is root susceptability to phyloxera & nematodes. Location also a >> variable. >> >> >> This is a paranoid chemical view......these [plants] are treated like >crap, >> get sick, then treated like junkies... they are susceptible to everything. >> sstorch >>
