Collecting, preserving and evaluating ampelographic and genetic diversity of old grapevine cultivars (Vitis vinifera L.) from Primorska winegrowing region of Slovenia

Despite all the initiatives to preserve the old grapevine cultivars of Vitis vinifera L. in Slovenia, many of them continue to disappear. The rapid disappearance of autochthonous grapevine cultivars from the vineyards is evident from 1960s. This is partly due to introduction of international grapevine cultivars and due to the adoption of varietal limited list of cultivars for vine production in Slovenia in 1977. Within the framework of the International Board Genetic Resources (IBPGR), some old grapevine cultivars have been planted in vineyards from the 1970s on a smaller scale; but some of them have been preserved only in vineyard collections. In the 1980 and 1985 grapevine collections were mainly established for the collection and preservation of 50 neglected old cultivars from Primorska winegrowing region. In 2012, new collection in the Vipava valley was planted, and since then more than 130 grapevines gene sources from Primorska have been preserved in the grapevine collection. Ampelographic and genetic studies and the evaluation of individual grapevines gene sources were carried out from 2015.