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Syrah Vine Health Issues
The Syrah Vine Health Symposium arose out of a desire to present the current state of knowledge about the unique growth problems specific to this winegrape variety. The purpose of the symposium is to provide growers an opportunity to learn what the researchers have found and what investigations are underway.
Nearly 19,000 acres of Syrah (Shiraz) are grown in California, where from 1996 through 2000, bearing acres of Syrah averaged annual growth in excess of 160%. Not long after the planting boom began, some growers noticed unique vine growth behavior that often could not be easily explained.
Symptoms included mild to severe vertical crevasses in the bark along the trunk; red leaf blades that appear identical or similar to symptoms of grapevine leaf roll associated viruses; and swelling at the graft union. When the bark is removed on such vines, it is common to see necrotic pits in the wood just above the union as well as necrotic areas that sometimes involve half or more of the diameter of the trunk.
These symptoms are more prevalent in the North Coast and perhaps the Sierra foothills, yet they also occur in the Central Coast. In that growing region, the term "Syrah Disorder" has been used to characterize a long list of irregularities in vine performance that include delayed fruit maturity and brown leaf color.
Funding for this symposium has been provided by grants from the American Vineyard Foundation and the California Competitive Grants Program for Research in Viticulture and Enology.
Presenters will include researchers from the University of California Davis, USDA-ARS, ENTAV (Etablissement National Technique por l’Amelioratiom de la Viticulture), France and the Plant Protection Research Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
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