inthenickoftime,scientistsfigured
outhowtosavetheworld’swine
industry:graftEuropeanwinevari-
etalsontoaphid-resistantAmerican
rootstock.
Inthemid-1900s,Australia,and
toa lesserextentNewZealand,saw
thearrivalofmigrantsfromEuro-
peanwine-growingcountries,who
helpedexpandthewineindustries
inthetwocountries.In1961,George
Fistonich,thesonofCroatianimmi-
grants,leasedlandfromhisfatherin
Auckland.Heplanted
vinesandsoonstart-
edsellingwineunder
thenameVillaMaria.
Today,VillaMariais
an award-winning
winebrandbothin
New Zealand and
abroad.
By thelate1980s
andagainintheearly2000s,my
Australianvarietieswereintrouble
again.Notfromaninsectthistime,
butfromoversupply.Aglutofmehit
themarket,andpricesfellthrough
thef loor.Tocorrectthistrend,the
governmentsponsoredgrowersto
pullmeoutoftheground.Fortunate-
ly,inthepastfiveyearsmyproduc-
tionhasbeenontheriseagain.
Although you may not be as
gregariousafterwards,humansfind
mea purepleasuretoeat,too.Even
mymostconventionalvarietiescan
behappilypoppedbythehandful
into your mouth or set on a cheesemicrobiolog yexplainedthatmy
skins– iftheyhaven’tbeenpeeled
offbya minirobot– naturallycarry
theyeast necessaryforfermen-
tation.)TheRomansthenspread
wine-makingtojustaboutevery
landtheyconquered.PerhapsJulius
Caesarshouldhavesaidveni,vidi,
vini(Icame,I saw,I wined).
EarlysettlersintheUS,Austral-
iaandNewZealandbroughtvine
stockfromEuropetogrowvineyards
intheirf ledglingcountries.Bythe
1880s, Antipodean
wineswerestartingto
makea stirinEurope,
withtwoAustralian
wineswinninggold
medalsinFrance.
Alas, the entire
wine world was
almostlostinthelate
1800swhena tinyyel-
lowaphid-likeinsect(phylloxeras)
burrowedundergroundandstarted
eatingawayatmyroots.
Aboveground,vintnerstheworld
overwatchedinhorrorasmyvines
became yellow and shrivelled.
Althoughtheydidn’t knowit at
thetime,thephylloxeraspestthat
wreakedhavocontheEuropeanvine
rootstockwasnativetoAmericansoil.
Thepestilencedestroyedasmuch
as 90 percentofEuropeanvineyards,
almostsendinga centuries-oldagri-
culturaltraditiontoruin,andthe
f ledglingAustralianandNewZea-
land industries to an early grave. Just
ANINSECT
ALMOSTCAUSED
THE ENTIREWINE
WORLD TOBE
LOST INTHE
L ATE 1800S47