Vineyard Education

Crash Course - Wine Grape Rootstocks

Here we're breaking down the basics about wine grape rootstocks. Find out why grapevines are (almost) all grafted on to rootstock of a whole other species!

Factors you can at least partly control with rootstock selection:

Vigor (is your vine "just gonna send it", or take it nice and easy?)
Disease Resistance
Pest resistance
Nutrient Uptake
Water Usage
Salt/Potassium/Boron Uptake

Some common grape species (and hybrids between these species) used as rootstock for wine grapes (Vitis vinifera):

Central TX grape (Vitis berlandieri)
Sand grape (Vitis rupestris)
Riverbank grape (Vitis riparia)
Champin's grape (Vitis champinii)

Fun fact, all of these can be found wild in different parts of Texas!