Blind vine

A term (also known as blind wood) for an annual shoot of the vine that is cut and shortened for the purpose of vegetative propagation. The name is derived from the unrooted shoot. The shoot, shortened to three or four nodes, is placed in the soil in such a way that the nodes are completely covered with soil and only the outermost node protrudes about two centimetres from the soil. New roots develop from the lower, soil-covered nodes and a new vine grows from the upper, light-exposed eye (bud) in the leaf axil. This was the usual way of replacing individual vines or planting new vineyards, in addition to lowering them until the phylloxera catastrophe.

Such vines are referred to as ungrafted, as the shoot and root are of the same origin. Vitis vinifera grape varieties are naturally not phylloxera-resistant. Today, the blind vines (scions) are grafted onto a suitable, phylloxera-resistant rootstock (root part) and these plants are called grafted vines. When individual diseased vines or vines that need to be removed for other reasons are replaced in a vineyard, this is known as mass selection. See also under breeding and relevant keywords under grapevine.

Voices of our members

For my many years of work as an editor with a wine and culinary focus, I always like to inform myself about special questions at Wine lexicon. Spontaneous reading and following links often leads to exciting discoveries in the wide world of wine.
Dr. Christa Hanten
Fachjournalistin, Lektorin und Verkosterin, Wien

Welcome back!

Blind vine

Voices of our members

The world's largest Lexicon of wine terms.

EVENTS NEAR YOU