🌿 Grapevine roots

The root system of a vine is the underground part of the plant that takes up water and nutrients. Grape roots go deep: in loose soil they can reach several metres. They search for moisture between stones, in cracks of rock and in deep layers.

This is one reason wine keeps the taste of a place. Roots draw water from the soil, and different layers give different substances. A vine on stony ground reaches down, while where water lies near the surface the roots grow shallower. If there is too much water, the vine makes many leaves and little flavour, which is why growers value poor soils.

Roots have an enemy too: phylloxera, a tiny aphid that eats them and kills the vine. In the 19th century it destroyed many vineyards in Europe. Today European vines are more often grafted onto the roots of American species that resist the damage. A young plant consists of two parts: the chosen variety on top and the rootstock below.

Roots are tied to the grapevine in general and to the soil in which it grows.