Every plant has a home - Corn: The Americas, Lychees: Asia, Wheat: The Middle East, etc. The vines used to make wine: Vitis Vinifera also has its roots, and these are found in the Caucasus Mountains, in the countries we know today as the Republic of Georgia, Azerbaijan and parts of Iran and Turkey. One of the oldest evidence that humans made wine comes from 6000 BC in the Republic of Georgia. More information Due to the need to drink something safer than water, they say that the vine was probably the first plant cultivated for human use.
Map of the ancient distribution of Vitis Vinifera. (Source: www.vinetowinecircle.com)
From this Transcaucasian area, the vineyard accompanied these cultures when they began to grow and move to other places. The Phoenicians and Greeks spread them throughout the Mediterranean, and over the years, the vines adapted and experienced several mutations from which the grapes we have today emerged. Although they were the first to spread the Vitis Vinifera plant, it was the Romans who took it beyond the Mediterranean during the time of the Roman Empire (between 31 BCE- 476 CE) and who introduced the European continent to the culture of planting their own. vineyards and drink wine daily. In Europe, with its temperate climate, sunny summers and little rain, the plant adapted to various types of soil. Centuries of evolution brought us the grapes we know today as Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, as well as dozens more.
Let's move forward in time a few centuries. Jesus created the religion that is today the most common in the world, Cleopatra lived and committed suicide, the Roman Empire rose and fell, the Mongol Empire expanded and was overthrown, Magellan circumnavigated the globe, the Aztecs built as advanced an empire as the Egyptians and the Spanish conquered it, and thousands of other things. All of this happened while the grape and its varieties continued to grow and give the world wine to drink.
However, at the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century, the phylloxera pest appeared - a species of aphid that has a life cycle in two parts of the vineyard - one in the vegetal part of the plant and another in the estate. In the 1850s-1860s, wine producers in Europe and the United States shared plants and trade without knowing that this aphid existed. Previously, the pest existed only in the United States, but American vines already had resistance to it. However, when it arrived in Europe, it almost entirely decimated the vineyards there. It indiscriminately killed young and old vines, from the best-known vineyards in the world, to the vines used to make homemade wine. It passed through the entire European continent, causing the destruction of centuries of work in less than five years.
Vigneron's guide to controlling phylloxera. (Source: www.tenzingws.com)
Phylloxera and its destruction (Source: www.tenzingws.com)
After several attempts to eradicate the pest, scientists realized that American roots were already resistant to phylloxera and the cycle could be broken by grafting the two types of vines. In 1881 they declared at the International Phylloxera Congress in Bordeaux, France, that the best way to solve the problem was to graft the vegetal part of the plant from European varieties onto American roots. However, when the majority adopted this practice, many of the vineyards began to fail again because European soils are much more calcareous and the pH is not the same. Back to the beginning…
From that moment on, the search for indigenous Vitis plants from the Americas began, for those which had roots adapted to different types of soils. They found the three most common plants, the same ones that we still use today for grafting. These are: Vitis Riparia from the northeast region, which is characterized by having lateral roots and which grow best where there is abundant water; Vitis Rupestris, with more tolerance to calcareous soils and found in areas near the Mississippi River, Tennessee and Arkansas. The last is Vitis Berlandieri - the most tolerant of soils with high calcareous content and is located in parts of Texas and New Mexico. The latter is really the root that rescued the most important vineyards of Europe. Now almost all the vineyards in the world are a mixture of American roots of these three types of Vitis (together to take advantage of the best qualities of each), grafted with the plant part of the European Vitis Vinifera.
The phylloxera movement in Spain during the 19th and 20th centuries. (Source: www.tenzingws.com)
Despite the devastating presence of phylloxera in Europe and various parts of the world, there are enclaves where this pest never managed to take root. In general, sandy soils have proven to be immune to it. On the European continent, small plots of land near beaches and rivers escaped the plague that afflicted their neighbors. In Chile and Argentina, there are extensive areas where phylloxera has never taken hold and the vineyards continue to grow robustly without grafting. It is speculated that the pest may not adapt well to high altitude regions. However, in some cases, the mystery persists as to why it affected some areas and not others.
An area that experienced significant exchange between America and Europe and yet remains unscathed by phylloxera to this day is the Canary Islands. Geologically belonging to the African continent, these islands were known as "the last western bastion of Europe", being the last stop before crossing the Atlantic Ocean during "the age of exploration". Portuguese, Spanish and British traveled through these lands, bringing their vines with them or taking with them the sweet Malvasía known as The Canary Sack, on their journeys.
The Canary Islands are a truly unique place in the world, a refuge and an anomaly in the world of viticulture. They are home to some of the oldest vineyards on the planet, with varieties that are practically extinct on the European continent. Grapes such as Marmajuelo, Vijariego, Diego, Gual, Tintilla, Negramoll, among others, are grown in these lands. Phylloxera led to the extinction of many of these grapes on the peninsula, being replaced by more productive vines or those prone to grafting. However, those that remained in the Canary Islands for more than 500 years managed to adapt and survive. The Canary Islands are the only place that is home to so many varieties that cannot be found in other parts of the world, with the particularity that the vast majority of the vineyards are planted directly, without grafting.
This corner of the world is distinguished by its unique factors: abundant exposure to the Atlantic sun, the direct influence of refreshing northern breezes and altitudes that provide the vines with ideal conditions: diurnal changes without excessive heat, a dry climate during the growing season. growth and cool nights that maintain acidity. And to this day, the absence of phylloxera remains part of this unique set of conditions.
From the Caucasus Mountains to the shores of the Mediterranean and beyond, on every continent, Vitis Vinifera has explored the world, undergoing genetic changes and adapting to diverse environments. This journey that, although it was essential for the health and survival of human beings centuries ago, culminates in the drink that we enjoy today due to its elegance. Like the rebirth of the phoenix, the vine rose from the ashes of the death of millions of hectares in Europe, taking root with new roots and preserving some original grapes in special places on the planet. Now it's home is everywhere and understanding the story of how it got there helps us better understand the history of this resistant plant and the incredible product of its fruit.
