Study of two Romanian autochthonous cultivars for wine grapes - 'Columna' and 'Feteasca neagra', cultivated in the organic system

Organic viticulture represents one of the developmental opportunities of the Romanian vine-growing sector, which, mainly at the level of small farms, is an opportunity to facilitate minimizing human interventions in the vineyard ecosystem by using a reduced number of treatments and utilizing especially copper and sulfur based products. Demand for organic wine is on the rise, both globally and locally. At the Research Centre for Viticulture and Enology Murfatlar-Romania, over a period of 10 years, several cultivars of wine grape have been tested to choose the most suitable ones to organic cultivation. The accent was on the autochtonous cultivars, among which are the grape cultivars for white wine ‘Columna’, and for the red wine, ‘Feteasca neagra’. The paper presents studies carried out between 2014 and 2016 on the adaptability of the two cultivars to the main stressful climatic factors characteristic of the Murfatlar vineyard (near Romania's Black Sea coast) – extreme temperatures, the abundance or lack of precipitation especially during the vegetation season, and their tolerance to grape diseases and pests by applying three schemes of phytosanitary treatments – a conventional one (control) and two treatment with substances allowed in the organic management system. The medium resistance of both cultivars, ‘Columna’ and the ‘Feteasca neagra’ to the rainy periods during the vegetation season for downy mildew (Plasmopara viticola) and gray mold (Botrytis cinerea) attack in case of organic treatments was remarkable. The short drought periods favored powdery mildew (Uncinula necator) and European grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana) problems that were well controlled by applying the two organic treatments. Grapes and wine production was analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively, observing that the application of the organic system does not influence the quality of grapes and wines.