Why are Roses in the Vineyard?
Hello Friends,
Ever wonder why some vineyards have roses planted throughout? For the average Virginia wine lover, an attractive rose plant accents the natural beauty and landscape of the Virginia countryside and makes the ritual of swirling, sniffing, and sipping fine Virginia wine even better. I took the healthy red beauty pictured below last year at Linden Vineyards, producer of some of the finest white and red wines in the state of Virginia.
What a Beauty !!!
So back to the question, why are roses planted in the vineyard? Well, roses are more susceptible to the same type of fungal disease (e.g., powdery mildew) as the grapevine. The roses in the vineyard serve as an early warning sign to the vineyard manager that action needs to be taken soon, or the grapevines will be infected next. Roses also welcome desirable insects that prey upon insects that are harmful to the vineyard. The next time you see roses in the vineyard that are as healthy as the one pictured, you will know the vines are doing just great! Have a question about this post, friends? Feel free to leave a comment or send me an e-mail at myvinespot@yahoo.com , and as always, Happy Sipping!Stay tuned friends ... lot's more to come!
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5 comments:
Rose bushes at the end of rows with their thorns also acted as end post protectors-beasts of burden pulling carts avoided the thorny bushes and swung wide when going up and down the rows of vines, minimizing the cart or wagon getting stuck on the end post and pulling it out.
I don't think so...
For my take on this see http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art64726.asp
Hi Peter,
For the most part I agree with you, but nothing beats a good story and the opportunity to inform curious visitors on vineyard tours what the rose plants were used for. There are those who still use rose plants for traditional purposes in the industry; though few. Nice article.
Dezel
Very good point Cellar Rat; check Peter's article when you have a chance. Would love to hear your response.
Happy Sipping!
Dezel
Yes nice article, but I think that one needs to pay attention to "in the past".
Rose bushes as disease indicators are not really effective-by the time the bush has disease there is a very good chance that fungus has spread throughout the vineyard-and the damage has already been done.
Nowadays we concentrate on preventing diseases before they get a foothold, so yes I agree that planting roses is probably nowadays more ornamental than practical, but also a nod to tradition. A lot of today's winemaking is also modernized with a slight nod to tradition.
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