Clonal selection of vitis vinifera cv. malbec: Confluence of science and nature

Abstract

It is not overstated that Argentinean viticulture identifies with Malbec, the vine which long ago was introduced in the country from France and which has marvelously naturalized here. However, the variety Malbec has many different expressions, depending very much on environmental and cultivating conditions and on natural mutations occurred over time. A modern viticulture cannot do without the capability of exactly identifying and differentiating clones of the same variety and from the ability to do that over contingency. This work on clonal selection, conceived and developed by a very polyvalent team, focuses exactly on defining instruments to unequivocally distinguish and select different clones and using these instruments to analyze, classify and select all different clones representing the highest variability of Malbec in Argentina ever sampled. The work bases on traditional instruments – phenotypic and enological analysis – and on a molecular marker selection program. Through the synergy of all these methods the team has come to the selection of 16 superior clones of Malbec and will proceed by sharing and mapping three of those clones on the country different micro-environments for grapevine growing regions, giving Argentinean viticulture a key instrument to identify its most valuable grape wine variety.