 Domaine Coteau Vineyard |
Rootstocks are the foundation on which V. vinifera vineyards have been rebuilt since the vineyards of Europe and America were mostly destroyed by phylloxera during the last third of the previous century (this vineyard destruction represented the greatest crisis in the history of European viticulture). Thus today the modern vine plant consists of two distinct halves grafted together; the budwood or scion (the top section of the plant that determines the grape variety and clone), and the rootstock (the lower section of the plant that establishes the rooting system and protects the plant from phylloxera). Many different rootstocks were developed from native American vines in France and Italy during the 1880s and 1890s.
At Domaine Coteau three different rootstocks
have been selected for use. They are:
Riparia gloire de Montpellier
Vine cuttings from the banks of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers
were sent
to France in 1875 and 1876 for study and evaluation. Several of the
vines from the Riparia family were selected for propagation and grafting
from among these cuttings because they were:
- highly resistant to phylloxera
- produced grapes with a high sugar content
- ripened their fruit early.
3309 C
This
Riparia and Rupestris hybrid was obtained by Couderc in 1881. Like
Riparia gloire, 3309 C is highly resistant to phylloxera. It is
also documented as
being more vigorous than Riparia gloire, but in the Domaine¹s vineyards
no difference in plant vigor between these two rootstocks has as yet been
observed.
101-14 Millardet et de Grasset
Another Riparia
and Rupestris hybrid obtained by Millardet in 1882. This rootstock
is documented as being more
vigorous than Riparia gloire but less vigorous than 3309 C. Like 3309 C
and Riparia gloire, it is highly resistant to phylloxera and
ripens its fruit
early. It is also resistant to nematodes. No differences in the vegetative
cycle of this rootstock and 3309 C have to date been observed at the Domaine.