Fungus-resistant vines make a breakthrough as Soreli French wine wins silver

07-Dec-2017 - Last updated on 28-Sep-2021 at 12:12 GMT

Patrice Bersac, president of two wine associations SyVIF (Île de France) and SyVINO (North-West) in France hit the headlines last week when he challenged the Syndicat Général des Vignerons de la Champagne (SGV) to approve the planting of new vines in the region.

In Part II of this video series Bersac talks about the vines he is championing in the region which are resistant to downy and powdery mildew in partnership with VCR (Vivai Cooperativi Rauscedo).

PIWI Wine Awards

BeverageDaily talks to Asia Khafizova, breeding project manager, VCR, which has the exclusive licence for these new varieties of vines, created by the University of Udine in Italy.

She said the grapevine varieties, unlike other hybrids developed previously, in other countries, are the result of ‘sequential re-hybridization giving a high percentage of the Vitis vinifera genome’.

They have been authorised for wine production in France, and have so far been planted in the south and Bordeaux and now there are requests to plant the vines on the outskirts of the champagne region and Paris next year.

Soreli won silver at the International PIWI Wine Awards 2017, in Germany last month, which is a contest for fungus-resistant grape varieties with 339 entries from 14 countries.

SITEVI tradeshow

BeverageDaily spoke to Bersac at the SITEVI tradeshow (November 28-30) in Montpellier, France, at the Coordination Rurale, French trade union stand, to talk about the fungus-resistant grape varieties and his fight to plant the vines in a region bordering the champagne region.

He said these particular vines are the future of wine growing, because they are sustainable, easier to manage and vineyard owners don’t have to spend a lot of money on pesticides.