It’s not every day that an official European government body makes a decision and notes that it’s informed by work that you’ve done personally.
But last week, the OIV (General Assembly of the International Organisation of Vine & Wine) formally adopted Resolution OIV-VITI 703-2024 “OIV definition and recommendations about old grapevines and old vineyards in the vitivinicultural sector.” and in announcing it, specifically cited “the significant engagement of the following initiatives, the ‘Old Vine Conference,’ the ‘Old Vine Project,’ the ‘Old Vine Registry,’ and the Italian ‘Censimento Vecchie Vigne.’”
As the guy behind the current incarnation of the Old Vine Registry, I’m extremely proud that this little project has helped even a small amount in furthering the wine industry’s awareness of old vines and their value.
The OIV Definition
The adopted resolution was the result of an extended discussion among OIV experts on the Commission on Viticulture and was based on a specific official consultation among the OIV Member States. In conclusion, the OIV Delegations agreed and resolved that:
An old grapevine is a single plant officially documented to be 35 years or older regardless of any other factors. In the case of grafted plants, the graft connection between rootstock and scion should have been undisturbed for at least 35 years
An old vineyard is a block of vineyard terrain, continuous and legally delimited, where at least 85% of the grapevines correspond to the previous definition
Old vines in the Wegat Vineyard, Lodi
Why Define ‘Old’?
The OIV cited a number of considerations for why such a definition made sense industry wide. These included:
The environmental, social, and economic benefits of old grapevines and vineyards – especially concerning heritage, cultural, image and oenotourism aspects in meeting the sustainability objectives of the vitivinicultural sector
The heritage value of old grapevines and vineyards is important for the vitivinicultural sector, and they deserve recognition and protection for their study in terms of their genetic diversity, agronomic capacities, quality, sustainability, and traceability objectives
That a definition of old grapevines and old vineyards may be useful for the vitivinicultural sector in recognizing the value of products they deliver and enhancing communication about vineyards’ longevity
The relationship between old grapevines and the potential qualitative values of products resulting from them
That the definitions of old grapevine and old vineyard are useful not only as a supplementary tool to protect viticultural heritage territorial or to highlight current condition of vineyards but also to promote the plantation of new vineyards for the long term (i.e., planting vineyards to grow old),
That the concept of old grapevine could become closely associated with a balanced interaction between root development, plant vigor, and impacts on wine quality, being necessary to clearly identify and quantify the characteristics, in addition to chronological age, that are associated with a grapevine considered to be old
These are, of course, among the key factors that led to the creation of the Old Vine Registry.
In light of the OIV’s definition, we’ll be aligning our standards at the Old Vine Registry accordingly. We already defined 35 years as the threshold for inclusion, but we are now going to also be using the 85% criteria for qualification as well.
How You Can Help the Cause
We’re chugging along towards our goal of registering 10,000 vineyards by 2027, but we need more volunteer vine hunters that are willing to do some research and legwork (occasionally tedious) to get more vineyards in the registry. As a non-profit entity created and maintained entirely by volunteers, we’re dependent upon the goodwill and donated time of others.
If you’d like to volunteer some time to help…
Source : https://www.vinography.com/2024/11/officially-defining-and-helping-old-vines-around-the-world
