Wine Word of the Week: Pierce’s disease



By Kori ~ November 30th, 2010.

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is Pierce’s disease.

Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine:
Pierce’s disease, or PD, is one of the vine bacterial diseases most feared around the world as it can quickly kill vines and there is no cure. The disease, along with flavescence dorée, is a principal reason for quarantine restrictions on the movement of grape cuttings and other plants between countries. ….

Leaves develop marginal discoloration that advances to dead tissue. This progressively enlarges until only the petiole remains attached. Vines die within one to five years after infection, depending on grape variety, vine age, and climate. ….

The disease is spread by insects called sharpshooters, which transmit bacterium from host plants to the vineyards during feeding.

Layman’s terms from Kori:
Pierce’s disease is a bacterial disease of the vine resulting in premature leaf fall and eventual death of the vine. The disease is spread by sharpshooters, insects that feed on an infected vine and then transmit the bacterium to a healthy vine.


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Reader's Comments

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