🌿 Vitis riparia

Vitis riparia is a wild American grape that grows along riverbanks. The name means riverside. It occurs in the east and centre of North America, from Canada to the southern United States. The vine is hardy and climbs trees and bushes along the water.

The main strength of Vitis riparia is toughness. It tolerates hard frost and resists phylloxera, the tiny insect that nearly destroyed Europe's vineyards in the 19th century. This is why the species became the basis for many rootstocks. A rootstock is the roots onto which an ordinary European vine is grafted. The roots of Vitis riparia protect the plant from the pest, and the grafted variety gives the wanted taste.

The berries of the wild riverside grape are small and sour, so wines are not made from them. But its genes are used in breeding: it is crossed with other species to get hardy varieties.

Alongside it in this work stand Vitis rupestris and Vitis berlandieri. All three species helped save European winemaking, and today almost every vineyard in the world has a rootstock.