The Great French Wine Blight

As you may or may not know phylloxera is a deadly insect that kills the grape vines.  It hit America then found it's way to Europe.  This is where they realized that the Native American grapevines were resistant to phylloxera and they begn to graft the roots of the vines so that they could rebuild.

Here is an info graphic demonstrating the chronological effects of phylloxera in the 1800's.
 
Presented by: Mocavo - Genealogy Search