Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/267019
w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m M a r - A p r 2 014 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 2 9 and knowledge have expanded to encompass a multitude of subjects and concerns. In addition to her work with rootstocks and vineyard design, other issues she takes on include trunk disease, vineyard pathogens and nutritional deficiencies. "But my focus right now is on finishing my book – except that all these problems keep coming up," she said. "The fact is, my job is to help people establish healthy vineyards so they can make good wines." And help people she does. As Washington Post wine colum- nist Dave McIntyre has written, Morton is "revolutionizing viticul- ture in the East." SOME ARE SKEPTICAL As with all revolutions, this one is not immune to criticism. Mor- ton's views on vine stress, for example, don't always convince skeptics. To the claim that propa- g a t i n g r o o t s t o c k i s e x t r e m e l y stressful, she responds that when vines are infected with a disease such as black goo, they are unques- tionably more vulnerable to stress – including the stress of grafting. But since grafting is necessary, she likes to point out that diseased vines are greatly handicapped, "but healthy vines have many strategies for surviving stress." The argument about the practi- cal importance of stress, she has famously said, "is eerily reminis- cent of the 1970s-era academic con- jecture that phylloxera-susceptible AXR-1 rootstock could be recom- mended as long as it was confined to 'less stressful' sites with irriga- tion and deep, fertile soils. "Lack of stress, however, did not save AXR-1 from phylloxera," Morton emphasized. "And lack of stress cannot be counted on to save vines from black goo, although it may delay the onset of decline for a number of years." After all, she reminded me, great wines are most often associated with sites of low fertility and low water-holding capacity – in other words, sites with somewhat stressful conditions. While Morton acknowledges that she has confidence in her own and money has gone into some- one's site, so it's painful to have to tell them they need to take radical steps to solve the problem." BITING THE BULLET S o m e t i m e s t h e r a d i c a l s t e p means ripping out an entire vine- ability to diagnose problems, she strives not to be judgmental. "I have bent over backward to not criticize, but to be a force for truth and accuracy," she said. "I can identify nutritional deficiencies or whatever, but I try not to raise alarms, to not be Chicken Little. I know how much work, and effort, © 2013 StaVin Inc. StaVın Inc, P.O.Box 1693, Sausalito,CA 94966 (415) 331-7849 f (415) 331-0516 stavin.com For over twenty years we've searched the world to source the very fi nest oak known to wine. Our hikes through numerous forests in countries on two continents have yielded fi ndings some winemakers consider treasure. Such travels have shown us the rewards of perseverance, and the importance of variety. Because even the most delicious wines rarely taste the same. ® EAST COAST WATCH MARGUERITE THOMAS