Grapevine Red Blotch Virus Requires a Different Approach Than Other Maladies

Pam Strayer, Grape & Wine Magazine
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“Red blotch is not only novel,” said Cornell researcher Mark Fuchs, speaking at the Napa Grape Growers’ Rootstock conference on November 19. “Red blotch does not behave like anything else we are familiar with.

“Forget about making analogies with Pierce’s disease. Forget about making analogies with leaf roll. We have to empty our hard drive and start rewiring everything, the way we see everything, the way we think about red blotch. So, it requires a whole village to start thinking outside the box.”

Over the last 15 years, grapevine red blotch virus (GRBV) has impacted countless winegrape vines, spreading in mysterious ways with no known cure other than vine removal, which has an enormous impact on profitability. Experts recommend replanting a vineyard when GRBV has infected 30% of the vines. Typically, vintners remove individual infected vines, a challenge as the disease can take three years for vines to show symptoms.

A native of Alsace, Fuchs is professor in the School of Integrative Plant Science Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section at Cornell AgriTech​.

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