The phylloxera disaster

Until the mid-19th Century remained the winery in Europe the previous proven true to tradition in viticulture. Was built on the well-known European varieties and focused on a painstaking care in order to obtain good-quality wine.

Suddenly accumulated horrors, at first primarily from Provence in 1858 in France, which had first gone through all the vineyards, and finally 1 ½ million acres of vines around the country based. The disease soon spread to all major wine-producing countries of Europe. The Director of the Austrian wine Klosterneuburger school received 1867 American vines infected and given to the vines in his country.


In Germany made ​​it the first time in 1874 near Bonn in the garden Annaberg, 1902 in Würzburg, 1907 and 1913 on the Mosel, Baden. Beginning of the 20th Century were already destroyed 75% of all vineyards in Europe. Even the “New World” was hit hard. Imported from France, infected vines also provided in the burgeoning vineyards in California for a fiasco. Even Australia and New Zealand were not spared. Only Chile has remained untouched by phylloxera disease.

The cause of this plague was a small insect of the family of dwarf lice. It soon became “Phylloxera”, and fought with all means.

With chemical agents was not much can. If the infestation is visible, it was around the vine too late. The biology of the phylloxera had to be examined more closely in order to take appropriate action.

From a phylloxera egg that has wintered in the bark of a vine, a female hatched in the spring of phylloxera. Immediately begins to pierce the vine leaves. These react with the formation of bile, which stores the louse in unfertilized eggs. From these eggs hatch in turn female phylloxera, which feed on the sap of the vine. A portion of this louse moves to lay their eggs in the root zone.

Formed in the fall of the root-knot females grow again, but who are inspired, in contrast to the other generations. They swarm out and lay their eggs. The circle is closed in the spring with the young hatching lice.

The phylloxera was in America long ago. She survived but the long transport on sailing ships before. As an American in 1850, vines were introduced to England and France with fast steam ships, the spread of phylloxera.

In the American vines, it was observed that these were attacked in the root zone, it did not respond but. It was also observed that European grape varieties did not form the typical leaf galls and thus no phylloxera eggs could be stored in it.
The French government Schuff 1870 a Commission for the Control of Phylloxera. Their most prominent Chairman Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) was. The Commission reviewed over 700 proposals and was largely unsuccessful.

Gaston Bazille, the wine, the botanist and horticulturist JE Planchon F. Sahut detected in the biological behavior of the phylloxera the key to solving the problem. Bazille began to graft the tops (budwood) the European grape varieties resistant American documents (rhizomes). The cycle of phylloxera was successfully disrupted.

This same refinement was also the first biological pest control in the history of viticulture. A French delegation later discovered in America with the help of the botanist Thomas Volney Munson (1843-1913), the appropriate rootstocks.

Nowadays you can vinifera varieties grown exclusively on American roots. It has therefore become meaningless, whether to stay in a vineyard lice or not.