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SEPTEMBER NEWS Winemakers Jeff Del Nin (from left), Lyndsay O'Rourke, Senka Tennant, Chris Tolley and Severine Pinte-Kosaka discuss the decline of Syrah vines with researcher Patrick Vuchot (right) during the B.C. Wine Grape Council meeting. Grapegrowers Brace for Syrah Decline Reduced vigor in popular B.C. clones leads growers to pull them out P enticton, B.C., Canada—More than 500 acres of Syrah grow in British Columbia, where it is touted as a potential signature red grape for the Southern Okanagan. But presentations at this year's British Columbia Wine Grape Council meeting revealed that the variety faces challenges. A large proportion of vines—perhaps as many as 200 acres— are at risk of being pulled out due to a genetic trait in two specific clones that causes the vines to decline and die. "It's really a genetic problem," Dr. Patrick Vuchot, who oversees research and development activities as winesandvines.com director of the Institut Rhodanien in Learn more: Orange, France, told winemakers during Search keywords "B.C. Syrah." the closing plenary session at the recent B.C. conference held July 15-16. The problem has been observed on grafted vines in British Columbia as well as own-rooted vines in Argentina, Vuchot explained. "It prevents the sap to come back to the roots," Vuchot said, noting that a key effect is to make vines less cold hardy, more susceptible to winter damage and, ultimately, less productive. "The vigor of the plant decreases every year. That's why they don't die straight away. It's not a disease. They get less and less vigorous, and then more and more sensitive," he said. Worse, because it's not a disease, there's no cure. The only strategy for addressing the phenomenon is kind vine management that reduces stress on producing vines. The worst news for B.C. growers is that the most susceptible clones of Syrah are the two on which the industry was established in the 1990s: clones 99 and 100. John Simes, winemaker for Mission Hill Family Estate in West Kelwona, B.C., said phytosanitary restrictions largely prevented growers from accessing other clones during the 1990s. "They were the only clones that Agriculture Canada actually allowed into Canada back in the 1990s," Simes said. "They thought there were all these viruses, and they were protecting us. Turns out these viruses were already here, but (clones) 99 and 100 were the only two that were approved—unless you went to the United States." Syrah is now the fifth most-planted red grape in the province, with more than 546 acres planted and a harvest of 1,328 tons in 2012, representing 10.15% of the total red grape yield. —Peter Mitham Win es & Vin es SEPT EM B ER 20 13 17