Phylloxera The great plague of the 19th century Phylloxera is or, rather, was one of the most serious natural disasters in the history of agriculture. It is a deadly parasite which feeds on the roots of vines and once it has attacked a vineyard it destroys it completely. The aphid, Phylloxera castratrix, originates from the American continent. It arrived in Europe around 1850, thanks to steamers which made it possible to cross the Atlantic in less than ten days, time enough for the terrible parasite to survive. From France phylloxera spread rapidly throughout Europe, literally destroying the vineyards. These were uncomfortable years for European vinegrowers who fought against it without success. The answer came from Professor Planchoin of Montpellier who identified phylloxera as being of American origin and found out that centuries of cohabitation had enabled American vines to develop effective forms of defence. The solution which appeared to be simple was graftvines onto American rootstocks would then bear any type of vine. Finding the right balance took years of study and many failures: the map of the vines in Europe changed completely and some pre-phylloxera varietals no longer exist.