Antonio Ruggeri

Antonio Ruggeri was born on October 15, 1859, in Messina, Sicily. After earning his degree in agronomy, he assumed the position of anti-phylloxera commissioner (Delegato antifillosserico) in 1880, and became the deputy director of the respective department in 1884. Ruggeri's practical and scientific activities were directed toward mitigating the consequences of the phylloxera epidemic in southern Italy by developing rootstock vines adapted to the specific soil conditions of Sicily.

In 1889, the Ministry of Agriculture assigned Ruggeri to the Province of Ragusa, where he directed the State Practical Nursery of American Vines in the city of Vittoria (Vivaio governativo di viti americane) until 1895. In the sandy and limestone soils of this region, imported American rootstocks suffered from lime-induced chlorosis. To address this problem, Ruggeri initiated hybridization experiments by crossing the wild American grapevine Vitis berlandieri with the drought-resistant species Vitis rupestris. In 1894, as a result of crossing the forms Vitis berlandieri cv. Rességuier № 2 and Vitis rupestris cv. Lot in Vittoria, he obtained a seedling designated as number 140, which entered ampelographic registries as 140 Ruggeri (140 Ru).

The resulting hybrid was developed for the hilly vineyards of Sicily characterized by stony, dry, and calcareous soils. The 140 Ru rootstock outperformed existing analogs in carbonate tolerance, demonstrating the capacity to withstand active calcium content in the soil up to 20% according to the Galet scale. From the same hybrid combination, Ruggeri also selected the 225 Ru rootstock, which is characterized by a more moderate vigor imparted to the scion.

In 1896, by order of the Ministry of Agriculture, Antonio Ruggeri relocated to the Province of Messina to head the local state winemaking school and nursery in Milazzo (Regia Cantina Sperimentale e Scuola di Viticoltura di Milazzo), focusing on the production of grafted vines for the province. During this period, he also selected the specialized hybrid 143 Ru (obtained from crossing Vitis berlandieri with Vitis riparia cv. Gloire de Montpellier) for moderately calcareous soils.

Antonio Ruggeri passed away on February 11, 1915, at the age of 55 in the commune of Spadafora (Province of Messina). His research confirmed the efficiency of using combinations of Berlandieri and Rupestris species to impart drought resistance and high carbonate tolerance properties to rootstocks, which enabled commercial viticulture on poor, arid soils with high carbonate content.