Where are there wine growing regions in the world where one can still find ungrafted vines?
Answer From Expert Roger Bohmrich MW
The question of ungrafted vines is a fascinating one. To be clear for those who may find this a mysterious subject, most of the world's vines - an estimated 85% according to a leading expert, Richard Smart - may be grafted onto American rootstocks resistant to the louse commonly called phylloxera. This aphid attacks the roots of vulnerable vines, which happen to be Vitis vinifera, accounting for essentially 99% of all wines produced worldwide. There are in fact entire regions which have been spared from the ravages of phylloxera: Chile, protected by natural barriers on all sides, is an obvious example. Washington State, where phylloxera has been found but has not spread, has been able to prosper with vines on their own roots. There are several areas in Australia where there are so-called pre-phylloxera vines; for example, Langmeil's Barossa Freedom Shiraz from 1843 (possibly the oldest vines in the world) and Tahbilk's 1860 Shiraz from Victoria. There are various parts of California with ungrafted vines such as in the Mokelumne River section of Lodi or Contra Costa County (San Francisco East Bay), where Turley sources a Zinfandel from a vineyard planted in 1896. There are parcels of own-rooted vines in Spain in Jumilla, Toro, Rueda and Rias Baixas. In Sicily on Mount Etna, several producers including Frank Cornelissen, Graci and Calabretta cultivate vineyards on their original roots. In Portugal, the celebrated Nacional Port is made by Quinta do Noval from ungrafted vines in the Douro, and the district of Colares along the Atlantic Coast is unaffected by phylloxera. We could go on with these individual exceptions. In some cases, the absence of phylloxera can be explained by free-draining soils with high sand content. All of this begs the question of whether wines from "intact" or ungrafted vines are intrinsically superior; while the notion is appealing, it is a very difficult point to argue the case convincingly. The debate is complicated by the role of age: Is perceived quality due to the absence of grafting or to the vines' lifespan, sometimes a hundred years or more? Or to other factors? This is undoubtedly a tantalizing subject, but difficult to pin down.
