WINETECH Technical Yearbook 2021

VITICULTURE RESEARCH | AUGUST 2021

JUSTIN LASHBROOKE: South African Grape and Wine Research Institute, Department of Viticulture and Oenology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch KEYWORDS: Grapevine, breeding, resistance, markers, microvine. Breeding the next Pinotage – advancements in wine grape breeding

EFFORTS TO EXPLOIT NEW TECHNO­ LOGIES TO BREED a proudly South Af - rican cultivar which is both sustainable and adapted to our climate are currently underway. In 1920 Abraham Perold crossed Pinot noir with Hermitage (Cinsaut) leading to what has become internationally recognised as South Africa’s homegrown wine cultivar, Pinotage. While it is not entirely certain as to why he selected these two cultivars (he left no notes regarding his experiment), it is thought that he wanted to create a cultivar which would produce wine with the drinking quality of Pinot noir, yet possess the relatively easy-to-cultivate qualities of Cinsaut.

Despite the importance of Pinotage as a symbol of South African wine, and the fact that it is the third most-planted red wine cultivar in South Africa, accounting for 16% of red wine plantings, there have been limited attempts to breed novel South African wine cultivars since Perold’s efforts a century ago. There are several reasons for this, most notably that the likelihood of creating a successful new cultivar remains extremely low. Pinotage can be seen as somewhat of fluke, only four seedlings were raised from Perold’s cross, and the one that performed the best selected, propagated, and named Pinotage. By comparison modern day breeding programmes raise thousands upon

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