Hybrid vine
The offspring of two different grapevine species in contrast to the cross between two varieties of the same species are referred to as hybrid grapes (also yield hybrids ) . In common parlance, the terms direct-carrier , self- carrier , yield hybrids and hybrids are often used identically. Hybrid vines that were bred in the second half of the 20th century are known as "Interspecific Crosses" .
Hybrid vines can arise naturally through chance crossing or through conscious crossing. Due to the high number of American grapevine species, such natural hybrid vines can be found on the American continent. However, the majority of known hybrid vines were created artificially. The breeding of hybrid vines was particularly important in the second half of the 19th century when attempts were made to combine the good taste properties of the Vitis vinifera varieties with the resistance of the American varieties. The phylloxera destroyed (since 1863), almost all European wine-growing areas .
The aim was to combine the good resistance of American vines against phylloxera, downy mildew and oidium with the good wine quality and lime tolerance of European vines. These goals have not been achieved or have only been insufficiently achieved. The higher the proportion of the genetic material of the European variety in the variety combination, the lower its resistance.
origin
Hybrid vines have their origin in North America. There is a large number of grape varieties that have developed over the millennia. In Europe only Vitis vinifera has developed. It was cultivated very early on by humans, the American Vitis species only after the European conquest of America.
American hybrid vines
With the European settlement of the American continent, the cultivation of vines began. The settlers found a large number of native varieties. They were not satisfied with the wine made from the grapes and began to cross the grape varieties. For example, in the mid-19th century in the east of the United States, the Clinton variety was created from a cross of Vitis labrusca x Vitis riparia . Most of the crosses involved Vitis labrusca . All crossings did not result in the desired improvement in wine quality. The Foxton and higher acidity were ubiquitous in these hybrid wines.
Of course, the settlers also brought Vitis vinifera varieties from Europe to North America. Due to the significantly different climatic conditions, the cultivation of Vitis vinifera varieties was unsuccessful. The next step was to combine the American with the European varieties - the varieties Black Spanish , Herbemont , Delaware and Othello were created . These and other hybrids are used for the production of table grapes and only partially for wine production, mostly they are used for grape juice and jam production in the USA. For areas with a cold wine-growing climate such as Canada or England, the good frost hardiness of the hybrid vines was and is important. Hybrid vines are still very common in these areas.
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Origin: North America - also known as American vines.
- Vitis labrusca - these include the Isabella , Concord and many others.
- Vitis aestivalis
- Vitis rupestris
- Vitis cinerea
- Vitis berlandieri
- Vitis riparia
- Vitis vulpina
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Origin: Europe - the so-called European vine
- Vitis vinifera - these include the varieties Riesling , Chardonnay , Grüner Veltliner , Cabernet Sauvignon , Pinot Noir , Merlot , Gamay and many others.
The breeding goal of these American old hybrids was only to improve the wine quality and adapt it to the local conditions. An infestation by phylloxera was not an issue at the time, as these varieties had good resistance to root phylloxera. That only changed when these vines were brought to Europe.
Occurrence of phylloxera in Europe
Until the phylloxera appeared, the vines stood on their own roots, they were not grafted. They could easily be propagated by cuttings or by burying them.
American hybrid varieties were introduced to Europe in the mid-19th century. With these vines, phylloxera was also brought to Europe without knowing it (1868 in France and 1872 in Klosterneuburg ). It wasn't until the massive damage that began in the 1860s and 1870s that people became aware. The European varieties never had contact with phylloxera during their development and therefore did not develop a defense strategy like the American vines. The vines imported from North America are themselves sufficiently resistant to attack by phylloxera root lice.
One tried to counteract the phylloxera plague in different ways. American hybrids were first planted, followed by the somewhat improved hybrids with Vitis vinifera. Only the combination of resilient rootstocks with European noble varieties brought success. These control options of the use of sufficiently resistant varieties or the combination through refinement are what we now call biotechnical control measures.
American hybrid varieties - direct producers
Since the roots of the European grape varieties were attacked and damaged by phylloxera, grape varieties of American origin were planted in many European wine-growing countries. American grape varieties are direct producers and therefore stand on their own roots. These varieties had the additional advantage that they also showed greater resistance to downy mildew and oidium than the European varieties. These fungal diseases were introduced from America in the second half of the 19th century. So it was not surprising that the winemakers showed great interest in these good properties.
The best-known varieties of American origin are: Isabella , Concord , Othello, Clinton and Delaware , Elvira and Noah (white). To improve the quality of the wine, the American and European varieties were crossed in America - one speaks of American hybrids, yield hybrids , old direct carriers or hybrid vines.
In terms of wine quality, the American hybrids do not achieve the quality of the wines of European noble varieties - they are more or less characterized by the Fox tone . The cultivation of these varieties was banned in some European countries for reasons of poor quality and because of a low content of toxic methyl alcohol . Today, these varieties can still be found on a small scale in all European wine-growing countries, such as in southern Burgenland, where Uhudler , a southern Burgenland wine variety, is pressed. It is obtained from grapes of various direct carrier varieties. These grape varieties require almost no control of downy mildew and oidium - which is why they are often used for vine arbors.
The yields of hybrids were overestimated, as the must yield of some varieties was only around 50% due to thick skins, numerous seeds or gelatinous pulp texture. With European varieties, the must yield was 70 to 80%. Most of them have a higher acidity than that of European varieties.
As these varieties are highly resistant to two important fungal diseases, downy mildew and oidium, they have become important as cross-breeding partners.
Cross of American and European varieties
- Improvement of the resistance against root aphid and improvement of the wine quality.
Towards the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, American and European varieties were crossed in France in order to combine the resistance of American varieties to phylloxera and the good wine quality of European varieties. The breeding goals were not or only partially achieved.
Andor Teleki writes in his book 1927: ... Despite decades of efforts by many hybrideurs all over the world, such ideal vines have unfortunately not yet been produced anywhere. Hundreds of thousands of seedlings were obtained, thousands of diverse hybrids, and high hopes were often attached to individual numbers that were then not confirmed in practice. Somewhere it was always missing, either the resistance to phylloxera and cryptogamic diseases was insufficient or the ripeness, the yield or the quality of the wine did not match .
These varieties are known as French hybrids, new direct carriers, direct carriers (also known as yield hybrids, hybrid vines). Some of these varieties form the basis for the multiple crosses carried out later.
Variety examples: Seyval Blanc , Villard Noir , Villard Blanc , Lucie Kuhlmann , Léon Millot , Maréchal Foch
- High quality wine and resistance to fungal diseases.
The property of good resistance to fungi was used in the second half of the 20th century to breed resistant grape varieties. By multiple crossing with European varieties, the wine quality of the European varieties was brought in well. At the same time, the hybrids had better resistance to fungal diseases than the European varieties. These varieties are known as interspecific grape varieties . In practice, they are also referred to as fungus-resistant varieties (PIWI), although they are only partially resistant to certain fungal diseases. However, these new varieties do not have sufficient resistance to root aphid infestation. They have to be grafted (grafted) onto a rootstock. A non-root planting as a so-called direct carrier is no longer possible and is also not aimed for in breeding. The various rootstock vines allow the different properties of the rootstock to adapt to the soil conditions (e.g. the lime content) in order to ensure an optimal supply of nutrients for the noble varieties. The new hybrids, whose pedigree already extends over 7 to 8 generations, and which already represent very complex crosses, are now called "Interspecific varieties" or "PiWi varieties" . Especially the younger of these complex breeds are to be equated with the European varieties in terms of their wine quality.
A large number of varieties are already available today.
- Variety examples
| designation | Descent - hybrids from: |
|---|---|
| rondo | Zarya Severa x St. Laurent |
| regent | Diana ( Silvaner x Müller-Thurgau ) x Chambourcin |
| Phoenix | Bacchus (( Silvaner x Riesling ) x Müller-Thurgau ) x Villard Blanc = (Seibel 6468 x Le Subéreux (vulgo Seibel 6905)) |
| Orion | Optima x Villard Blanc |
| Johanniter | Riesling x ( Seyve Villard 12-481 x ( Ruländer x Gutedel )) |
| Roesler | ( St. Laurent x Blaufränkisch = Zweigelt ) x ( Seyve Villard 18-402 × Blaufränkisch ) |
Vine growers (hybrids)
In the 19th century, some vine growers did a great job of breeding hybrid vines. The best known are: François Baco , Eugène Kuhlmann , Christian Pierre Castel, Eugène Contassot, Georges Couderc, Hermann Jaeger , Fernand Gaillard, Alfred Galibert, Christian Oberlin, Albert Seibel , Victor Villard , Bertille Seyve-Villard , Jean Francois Ravat , Jean-Louis Vidal, Peter Eugen Landot, Bruce Reisch (from Cornell University ).
Today both private breeders, such as the Swiss Valentin Blattner, and all viticulture research institutes with a vine breeding institute deal with the breeding of fungus-resistant grape varieties.
Document hybrids
In the past, Vitis riparia and Vitis rupestris were the most commonly used rootstocks. V. riparia was used in the northern and V. rupestris in the southern wine-growing areas. But later one began to cross these. In the beginning only Americans were crossed and in this way the "Americo-American hybrids" were obtained . Compared to the Europeans, these have genetic characteristics which are expressed in a certain incompatibility with the refining partner. For this reason the "Vinifera-American hybrids" were created . Since a particularly large number of French breeders dealt with the crossing of Americans and Europeans , these crosses were also called "Franco-Americans ".
- Americo-American - rootstock hybrids that have arisen from different American grape varieties.
Examples:
| designation | Descent - hybrids from: |
|---|---|
| Teleki 125 AA | Vitis riparia × Vitis berlandieri |
| Kober 5 BB | Vitis riparia x Vitis berlandieri |
| Selection Oppenheim 4 (SO4) | Vitis riparia × Vitis berlandieri |
| Binova | Vitis riparia × Vitis berlandieri |
| Teleki 5 C | Vitis riparia × Vitis berlandieri |
| Teleki 8 B | Vitis riparia × Vitis berlandieri |
| Borner | Vitis riparia × Vitis cineria |
The SO4 underlay is the most commonly used underlay for sale to private gardeners today, as it can cope with most soils and promotes good wood maturity. Not all American vines have good phylloxera resistance. The phylloxera-resistant species are Vitis riparia, Vitis rupestris and Vitis berlandieri. Therefore, the most important rootstock varieties consist of crosses of these species.
- Vinifera Americans or Franco Americans - rootstocks hybrids that emerged from American and European vines.
Examples:
| designation | Descent - hybrids from: |
|---|---|
| 41 B | Gutedel × Vitis berlandieri |
| Fercal | Vitis berlandieri × Colombard 1B × Richter 31 |
The crossing brings better compatibility of the breeding partners, but the phylloxera resistance is weaker. Rootstock varieties such as Geisenheim 26 ( Trollinger x Vitis riparia ) or A × R 1 ( Aramon × Vitis rupestris ) are therefore no longer recommended.
Refinement (grafting) on rootstocks
With the mechanical connection of two different types of grape, an American rootstock that is sufficiently resistant to root aphid infestation for the formation of the root system and a European grape variety that forms the above-ground organs, it has been possible to prevent the destructive effect of phylloxera. With this strategy, the high quality of the European varieties is fully preserved, as the varieties are not changed like a cross.
To combat the root aphid, vine-tolerant (" rootstock " vines from America Vitis riparia , Vitis berlandieri , Vitis rupestris , Vitis cinerea and from Asia Vitis amurensis ) or their hybrids with vines of European varieties ( Vitis vinifera ) are grafted (grafted) . This can interrupt the complicated reproductive cycle of phylloxera . There are only a few locations or areas worldwide where real- root vines (ungrafted, non-grafted) can be planted. Sandy soils have the advantage that phylloxera cannot develop here. That is why such vineyards were the only ones spared during the phylloxera disaster, for example in viticulture in Hungary . Furthermore, Chile and South Australia are (still) spared from phylloxera. Vintners save a lot of time and money there, as they only need cuttings to plant a vineyard. It is questionable how long this aphid-free time will last. Some farms are already starting to plant grafts for safety reasons; in addition to being resistant to phylloxera infestation, the documents have various desired properties (e.g. influence on vigor, maturity; adaptation to the lime content or dryness, etc.), with which an adaptation to the soil and site conditions is possible.
Chemical control of phylloxera
Soil injection with carbon disulfide was an effective, laborious, and expensive method of phylloxera control. The liquid, easily evaporating, highly explosive, poisonous carbon disulfide was brought into the main root area of infected vines with hand injectors. By refining the noble variety with a resistant rootstock, this method has long since disappeared and is now prohibited.
See also
literature
- Karl Bauer, Ferdinand Regner , Barbara Schildberger: Viticulture (= AV book. ). 9th, updated edition. Cadmos, Vienna 2013, ISBN 978-3-7040-2284-4 .
- Pierre Galet : Cépages et vignobles de France. Volume 1: Les vignes Américaines. 2e édition, entièrement refondue. Paysan du Midi, Montpellier 1988, ISBN 2-902-771-03-7 .
- Pierre Galet: Dictionnaire encyclopédique des cépages. Hachette, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-01-236331-8 .
- Erwin Kadisch (founder): Viticulture (= the winemaker. Vol. 1). Edited by Edgar Müller. 3rd, completely revised edition. Eugen Ulmer, 2008, ISBN 978-3-8001-1241-8 .
- Karl Müller (Ed.): Viticulture Lexicon. For winemakers, wine merchants, coopers and innkeepers. Paul Parey publishing house, Berlin 1930.
- Jancis Robinson : The Oxford Wine Lexicon. 3rd, completely revised edition. Hallwag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-8338-0691-9 .
- Dictionary of German winegrowers' language .
Individual evidence
- ^ Karl Müller: Viticulture Lexicon. 1930, pp. 359-360.
- ^ Elisabeth Arnberger: On the way to wine. A root system. Vier-Viertel-Verlag, Strasshof et al. 2007, ISBN 978-3-902141-29-3 , p. 85.
- ↑ Jancis Robinson: The Oxford Wine Lexicon. 3rd, completely revised edition. 2007, p. 17.
- ^ Karl Müller: Viticulture Lexicon. 1930, p. 359.
- ↑ Jancis Robinson: The Oxford Wine Lexicon. 3rd, completely revised edition. 2007, p. 186.
- ^ Andor Teleki: Modern viticulture. The reconstruction of the vineyards. 3rd, completely revised and significantly expanded edition. A. Hartleben, Vienna et al. 1927, pp. 118–124.
- ^ Valentin Blattner: Blattner's new grape varieties. In: fruit growing and viticulture. Swiss magazine for fruit and wine growing. Vol. 142, No. 16, 2006, ISSN 1023-2958 , pp. 14–17, ( digitized version ( memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check Original and archive link according to instructions and then remove this note. ).
- ↑ Jancis Robinson: Grape varieties and their wines. Hallwag, Bern et al. 1997, ISBN 3-444-10497-9 , p. 11.
