 These two men, Gary Ballard and Markus Keller, are the keepers of the super-secret foundation-block map.
When a recent virus survey by the Washington State Department of
Agriculture (WSDA) revealed the presence of some debilitating
viruses not previously known to exist in the region, industry
leaders realized doing nothing was no longer an option. They
quickly mobilized and cast their financial and political support
behind efforts to revitalize WSU’s foundation-block program,
originally established in 1961 by Walter Clore, considered the
grandfather of the Washington wine industry.
“That [virus survey] sent up the red flag across the industry,
which realized, ‘hey we need to be a lot more careful,’” says Mike
Means, vineyard manager at Canoe Ridge Winery in Walla Walla and
board member of the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers.
“There’s a lot of people who jumped into the industry in recent
years that didn’t have a history with wine grapes and their
potential problems. We want to help educate the newcomers of the
importance of using clean plant material in order to not put the
whole industry in jeopardy.”
The state—and federal government—has quarantines that prohibit
importing vines without proper certification, but that hasn’t
always acted as a deterrent.
“We don’t check our borders, we don’t have the capability,”
explains Tom Wessels, manager of the plant services program at the
WSDA. We have a rule that says only certified grapevines can come
into Washington, but there is nothing to stop a grower from taking
a truck down to California, loading it up with grapevines, and
driving back with them.”
Over the last year, however, most perpetrators weren’t growers,
but rather major home and garden retail box stores that sell
garden-variety vines for decorative planting in yards, say, to
cover gazebos or arbors.
“It’s frightening,” says Ballard. “[The big box stores] will go
to Timbuktu or wherever they can get the cheapest plants and truck
this stuff in here . . . bypassing all regulatory bodies.”
When smugglers are caught, the WSDA requires such clandestine
plant material be either sent back or destroyed. Technically, all
grapevines that arrive in Washington State must have a “clean plant
passport,” called phytosanitary paperwork. But clearly there are
ways around the system.
Keller recalls driving up to one Washington wine tasting event
and being surprised to see large signs pointing out the vineyard’s
fancy Portuguese varieties, something he knew had not been
cultivated legally. Inside, he asked the winery’s server about
it.
“She smiled politely and said, ‘Oh, our owner just went to
Europe and brought these back,’” Keller recalls, shaking his head
incredulously. Then she poured him a glass of port.
The European import stories are the scariest scenarios, says
Wessels, since Europe has “things that would really be serious if
they got loose here.”
Another concern is the small boutique wineries overeager to get
their foot in the door of a lucrative industry. A five-acre winery
newly licensed in the Chelan area produced its first crop of Syrah
this year, but when an October freeze injured some plants, crown
gall set in, and the winery’s crop was devastated. “Why?” asks
Ballard rhetorically. “Because they planted dirty vines.”
Crown gall is only one of several problematic diseases. Leaf
roll was detected in the late 90s at the beginning of the
industry’s big boom and began rapidly spreading. Now, the bright
red leaves of vines infected with the virus wave from the vineyards
like red danger flags in a sea of green.
“There are infected vineyards,” says Spayd, “vineyards that need
to come out,” not only because of the risks they pose to
neighboring crops, but because grapes from these infected vineyards
are poor quality. Leaf roll, for example, changes sugar
accumulations, which can affect the color and phenolic properties
of wine. Recognizing that poor-quality grapes will lead to
poor-quality wines, many of the state’s larger wineries have been
among the most aggressive supporters of WSU researchers’ efforts to
tighten control over plant materials and the spread of disease.
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