Propagation of grapevines

Grapevines, most of which belong to the Vitis vinifera family, produce one crop of fruit each growing season with a limited life span for individual vines.

While some centenarian old vine examples of grape varieties exist, most grapevines are between the ages of 10 and 30 years.

This clone may have been selected deliberately from a grapevine that has demonstrated desirable traits (good yields, grape disease resistance, small berry size, etc.)

Syrah is a crossing of two French Vitis vinifera species, Dureza from the Ardèche and Mondeuse blanche from Savoie.

[3] Theoretically, every seedling (also known as a selfling), even if its pollinated by a member of the same grape variety (i.e. such as two Merlot vines), is a crossing as any vine that results from the seed being planted will be a different grape variety distinct from either parent.

When the phylloxera epidemic of the mid to late 19th century hit Europe, some growers in European wine regions experimented with using hybrids until a solution involving grafting American rootstocks to vinifera varieties was found.

[1]As commercial winemakers usually want to work with a desired grape variety that dependably produces a particular crop, most grapevines are propagated by clonal or massal selection of plant material.

However, the type of cut made on the grape vine determines the classification of the Bench graft.

[7] The Whip Graft is performed by making an identical small dip at angle into the rootstock and the scion, so they can be adjoined.

In massal (or "mass") selection, cuttings are taken from several vines of the same variety that have collectively demonstrated desirable traits.

[1] Other criticisms of clonal selection involve the increased risk in vineyards lacking genetic diversity among its vines as well as the changing priorities in wine production.

While many clones in the mid to late 20th century were isolated, some of the desirable traits exhibited by those clones (such as early ripening or high yield potential) may no longer be as desirable today where other traits (such as low yields and drought resistance) may be more prized.