The Great French Wine Blight: Phylloxera and the Vine

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how a tiny American aphid nearly destroyed France's wine industry in the 1860s. They trace the arrival of phylloxera on imported vines, the desperate experiments to stop it — from flooding vineyards to burying toads — and the scientific detective work of Charles Valentine Riley, Jules-Émile Planchon, and others who identified the culprit. The episode covers the radical solution of grafting European vines onto resistant American rootstocks, the lasting impact on French viticulture, and the ongoing debate over wine quality. It's a story of ecological disaster, scientific ingenuity, and the resilience of French wine culture. #Phylloxera #FrenchWine #Viticulture #CharlesValentineRiley #JulesÉmilePlanchon #Grafting #WineHistory #19thCenturyFrance #Agriculture #EcologicalDisaster #Rootstock #VitisVinifera #WineCulture #France #History #FexingoHistory #ScienceHistory #WineMaking Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo