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Dying on the Vine chronicles 150 years of scientific warfare against the grapevine’s worst enemy: phylloxera. In a book that is highly relevant for the wine industry today, George Gale describes the biological and economic disaster that unfolded when a tiny, root-sucking insect invaded the south of France in the 1860s, spread throughout Europe, and journeyed across oceans to Africa, South America, Australia, and California—laying waste to vineyards wherever it landed. He tells how scientists, viticulturalists, researchers, and others came together to save the world’s vineyards and, with years of observation and research, developed a strategy of resistance. Among other topics, the book discusses phylloxera as an important case study of how one invasive species can colonize new habitats and examines California’s past and present problems with it.
Price: $85.00
Pages: 336
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Publication Date:
05 July 2011
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9780520265486
Format: Hardcover
"Explores the crisis with fresh details and stunning insights. Nominated for a 2012 IACP Award, Dying on the Vine is an excellent and immendsely readable history of wine and its continuing transformation in the wake of an environmental disaster."
George Gale is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the author of Theory of Science. He has written about phylloxera for The World of Fine Wine magazine and other publications.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Disaster Strikes: “All your vines are fatally condemned to disappear, Monsieur”
2. La Defense: Sand, Submersion, and Sulfiding
3. La Reconstitution
4. The Underground Battle: Grafting on American Rootstock
5. Phylloxera Makes the European Grand Tour
6. The Bug Goes South: New Venues, Same Story
7. The Old Americans, or How the Fox Conquered Europe
8. Phylloxera Breaks Out (Twice) in California
Conclusion
Appendix A. Life Cycle of Phylloxera
Appendix B. American Wild Grape Species
Appendix C. Old American Varieties
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Disaster Strikes: “All your vines are fatally condemned to disappear, Monsieur”
2. La Defense: Sand, Submersion, and Sulfiding
3. La Reconstitution
4. The Underground Battle: Grafting on American Rootstock
5. Phylloxera Makes the European Grand Tour
6. The Bug Goes South: New Venues, Same Story
7. The Old Americans, or How the Fox Conquered Europe
8. Phylloxera Breaks Out (Twice) in California
Conclusion
Appendix A. Life Cycle of Phylloxera
Appendix B. American Wild Grape Species
Appendix C. Old American Varieties
Glossary
Bibliography
Index