Golia
| Variety Passport | |
| Country of origin: | Italy |
| Breeder: | Alberto Pirovano |
| Variety number VIVC: | 4886 |
| Prime name: | Golia |
| Year of obtaining / registration: | admitted to the Italian National Register on March 26, 1971 (decree published in the Official Gazette on April 23, 1971) |
| Pedigree given by breeder: | Castel 156-12 (Carignan × Vitis Riparia) × Rupestris du Lot |
| Rootstock type: | Phylloxera-resistant, Lime-tolerant |
| Data Sources: | Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC), Registro Nazionale delle Varietà di Vite (Italy) |
| Agrobiology | |
| Vigor: | vigorous |
| Flower type: | hermaphrodite |
| Drought tolerance: | resistant |
| Resistance to fungal diseases: | tolerant |
| Root phylloxera susceptibility: | 1 point (highly resistant) |
| Rooting ability: | high |
| Graft compatibility with Vitis vinifera: | high |
| Recommended soil types: | Dry soils moderately prone to inducing lime-induced chlorosis. |
| Ampelographic overview |
History of Origin and Agricultural Importance
The Golia rootstock is a rare specialized technical grape variety of Italian selection, obtained by the prominent viticultural scientist Pirovano. This hybrid form was created by crossing the complex interspecific hybrid Castel 15.612 (the parental pair of which is Carignan and Vitis riparia) with the pure American species Rupestris du Lot. In the National Register of Italy, the Golia rootstock variety was officially included in March 1971 under code 631. The breeding work was aimed at creating a vigorous and hardy rootstock capable of effectively resisting soil pests and unfavorable environmental conditions.
The main agricultural importance of the Golia rootstock variety lies in providing reliable protection for commercial vineyards against the root form of phylloxera. The variety demonstrates high plasticity and successfully adapts to arid, dry soil types, as well as to soils moderately causing lime-induced chlorosis. The vines possess significant vigor and positively influence the development of grafted scions of European grapes, guaranteeing good graft affinity. Modern nursery production in Italy continues to support the reproduction of this rare rootstock, producing certified vines through specialized research centers in Conegliano and Bari.
Recorded morphological features of the variety:
The recorded main morphological features of the variety:
- Young shoot (growing tip): the apex of the young shoot during the flowering period is moderately expanded, elongated, green in color, practically completely glabrous, with barely noticeable short bristles. Apical leaves (first to third) are slightly trough-shaped, glossy, of an intense golden-green coloration, bearing small bristles on the veins. The teeth of the leaves are very long, and the petiolar sinus is brace-shaped. Young leaves lower down the shoot (fourth to sixth) are fully expanded, slightly reniform, almost entire or with three faintly expressed lobes. The herbaceous shoot is curved, smooth, glossy, with an intense wine-red coloration on the sun-exposed side. Tendrils are very long, intermittent, bifid or trifid, with a reddish tint.
- Leaf: formed leaves are of medium size, predominantly reniform and entire (minor lobed division appears only on the lowest basal leaves). The upper side of the leaf blade is smooth, green; the lower side is lighter, with prominent reticulate venation and sparse short bristles along the veins. At the base of the leaf on the upper side, the veins are colored red. The teeth of the blade margin are very large, acute, pronounced, and irregular in size. The petiolar sinus is open, in the shape of a wide brace, with a slightly receding central angle at the point of attachment of the short pinkish petiole.
- Mature wood: shoots are long, of medium vigor, with a tendency to form lateral branches. The cross-section of the woody cane is rounded, the surface is slightly striated, glabrous, of a reddish-brown color with a darker intense coloration on one of the sides. Internodes are of medium length (about 13–14 cm). Nodes are well visible, buds are large and pointed.
Nursery Agricultural Characteristics
Under nursery conditions, the Golia rootstock forms spreading vines with a slightly bushy growth habit and demonstrates outstanding vigor. The ripening of annual shoots by the end of the vegetation period is evaluated as quite good, which allows for harvesting a sufficient volume of high-quality cuttings for winter and spring grafting. The variety is characterized by medium terms for the onset of the main phenological phases — bud burst, flowering, and natural leaf fall occur during average calendar dates. However, in certain humid years, the Golia rootstock variety can shed its leaf apparatus prematurely due to vulnerability to downy mildew (peronospora) and anthracnose, which requires preventative fungicide treatments in mother vineyards. Propagation of the variety does not cause technological difficulties: cuttings easily form callus, demonstrate a high capacity for rooting in the nursery bed, and show an excellent output percentage of first-grade grafted vines with most European varieties of the species Vitis vinifera.