The French scholar Georges Couderc (1850-1928) came from a noble family and studied geology, mineralogy and palaeontology at the École des Mines in Paris, as well as medicine in Montpellier (the spelling "Coudrec" often appears in sources). From the mid-1870s, he worked on plant protection against insects on the family estate of Champfleuri in the Département Ardèche (south-eastern France). At that time, the phylloxera catastrophe was at its peak in France and the insect was already known to be the cause. Georges Couderc specialised in breeding phylloxera-resistant rootstocks and created several hundred hybrids. He mainly used the American species Vitis riparia and Vitis rupestris, as well as Vitis berlandieri, Vitis labrusca and Vitis lincecumii, some of which he crossed with European Vitis vinifera varieties such as Bourrisquou. His most successful rootstocks are 1613 C, 161-49 C, 1616 C and 3309 C, some of which are still used today. Wine grapes created by him are Couderc 13, Couderc Noir, Muscat du Moulin, Oiseau Rouge (Couderc 4401), Panaché Blanc and Pineau Couderc.
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