Winemakers look to hardy hybrids for solutions to environmental challenges.
Until now, California and other West Coast researchers have been more interested in these standard crosses, and California has no major commercial hybrid plantings right now. A Harold Olmo hybrid, Rubired, is grown in a few areas to add color to hot climate wines.
But that could change. Andrew Walker, professor of viticulture at UC Davis, says that the state's winegrowers should start giving hybrids serious attention. Restrictions on fungicides and a move toward greener viticulture are making hybrids increasingly relevant. He says: "It's almost a million acres of grapes in California, and they're all potentially going to be impacted. And it's not just California, it's worldwide - not next week, but in 30 or 40 years down the road, when political and environmental pressures kick in" to end the use of copper, sulfur and other fungicides.