Resistant grape varieties Podcast Podcast
Hybrid Sauvignon Blancs from Italy
If there is one sector where the challenge of climate change is particularly palpable, it is viticulture. Winemakers adapt their practices to the temperatures that climb, but wonder. Can we completely do without pesticides? Some opt for varieties that are disease resistant. Agnieszka Kumor has traveled the vineyards of France and elsewhere. Today, she has taken the course on the North of Italy with its Sauvignon Blancs ... a little peculiar.
In the Ca 'Bolani area, the deer are walking between the rows of vines. The sun has barely risen. It is in the early morning that the ripened grapes are best savored. The family Zonin, owner of the place, does not hunt these wild animals. Their presence, just like that of insects or birds, testifies to the good health of the vineyard.
We are in Friuli Venezia Giulia, a region of northern Italy, about forty kilometers from the city of Udine. A long driveway lined with cypresses leads to a small stone building. This is the visitors lobby. All around, extend parcels of vines. We can distinguish small compact bunches of Pinot blanc, those of slightly Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc or Cabernet Franc. The noble, so-called "international" grape varieties, which are the pride of Gabriele Carboni, responsible for the crops. Under his watchful eye are also native varieties: Traminer, Müller thurgau, Friulano, Refosco dal peduncolo rosso or Glera, which gives proseccos, sparkling wines and light, known worldwide.
Recently, Gabriele Carboni is testing new grape varieties: " The cooperation with the University of Udine and the Rauscedo Cooperative Nursery was decisive for this project. The idea was to find the natural resistance of plants against the effects of global warming and against vine diseases caused by fungi. Ten resistant varieties, 5 red and 5 white, were planted. They make it possible to completely eliminate the use of pesticides. These varieties are not existing grape varieties but have been obtained as a result of multiple crosses. These are new varieties. "
A long process of crosses
At the cooperative nursery of Rauscedo , west of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, these new grape varieties have been developed. Founded in 1920, the nursery has accumulated an impressive know-how that it seeks to project into the future.
One of the sought-after tracks is the hybrid grape varieties. But beware: no confusion with GMOs. A hybrid vine is not a genetically modified organism, but it is the result of a long process of crossing between two vine species, a vine grown and a wild vine, as explains Elisa de Luca, agronomic manager: " Mildew and powdery mildew are the deadly enemies of the vine. The cultivated vine, Vitis vinifera, did not know these diseases because they were brought from the New World. So, it's on the side of the New World that we decided to look for genes of resistance that allow wild vines to coexist with these diseases, without succumbing to them. It was in the United States and in Asia that we found them. Some wild vines from Europe also have this resistance gene. All the work is to find it! From seed to vine, it must be twenty years before a cultivated vine and a wild vine give a healthy baby.
Why graft the vines?
We pass under a large greenhouse where young shoots arise from germination of pips. As a teenager, says Elisa de Luca, they will join the farms of some 250 members of the cooperative where they will produce vines-mothers. In adulthood, cuttings will be taken there. These are the stems of wood, the varieties of grapes, which are grafted on American rootstocks. This is the only method that has been found to immunize European vines against a serial killer vine, phylloxera , an aphid that ravaged vineyards around the world in the late nineteenth century.
Once assembled, the young plants are immersed in a wax at the point of graft. Boxes filled with plants "dressed" with green wax are stored in a warehouse. Most of them will be marketed in Italy, others will go to all corners of the globe: France, Australia and South Africa. The Rauscedo Nursery produces more than 70 million plants per year and ships them in about 30 countries.
In vino veritas (" The truth is in the wine ")
In a separate room, at the foot of small stainless steel tanks, an armada of glass jars patiente. Each jar is filled with wine and carries around a neck a label mentioning numbers and letters. Obscure code names for an amateur, but which have nothing secret for the agronomist: " These are our micro-vinifications, that is to say elaborate wines, not to be marketed, but to prove their taste potential. "
Alongside known grape varieties, resistant grape varieties are waiting to prove themselves. Once the tasting test is over, they will have their own name. Olaf Leenders, Belgian sommelier, appreciates the tasting: " It was very interesting to compare the differences between the wines from these five resistant Sauvignon Blancs. Personally, I was seduced by the taste qualities of Sauvignon Rytos. "
To this end wine connoisseur, these new grape varieties, alone or accompanied by other so-called " noble " varieties, have immense potential for the future. Hybrid Sauvignon Blancs that meet the names of Rytos, Nepis or Kretos ... And whose objective is: zero pesticide in the vineyards.
Ca 'Bocani belongs to an Italian family of wine producers, Zonin.
RFI / Agnieszka KumorGabriele Carboni, responsible for the crops at the Ca 'Bolani estate.
RFI / Agnieszka KumorValentina Casula, Visitor Reception Manager at Ca 'Bocani Estate.
RFI / Agnieszka KumorYoung shoots planted at the Rauscedo Cooperative Nursery.
RFI / Agnieszka KumorThe vine plants are shipped to about 30 countries.
RFI / Agnieszka KumorThis chenin will go to South Africa or the Loire Valley in France.
RFI / Agnieszka KumorElisa de Luca, agricultural manager at the Rauscedo Nursery.
RFI / Agnieszka KumorThe glass jars welcome micro-vinification of grapes.
RFI / Agnieszka KumorA variety of corvina grapes in the process of winemaking.
RFI / Agnieszka KumorA tasting of resistant grape varieties.
RFI / Agnieszka KumorOlaf Leenders, Belgian sommelier.
RFI / Agnieszka Kumor
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