Phylloxera

Europe got the short end of the stick during the 19th-century global wine diffusion. Native vines from the United States arrived in the Old World infested with phylloxera, a deadly insect that devastated European vineyards and nearly destroyed the old-world industry entirely. Most of the world's wine regions were affected by this dreaded louse, but Chile has avoided it altogether, remaining the one and only wine-producing country in the world to be phylloxera-free. No one can say why for sure, but weather, geographic isolation, and a healthy dose of good luck all seem to play an essential part. The same conditions make organic and biodynamic farming relatively easy and sustainable agriculture increasingly common. Even those who have not jumped on the ecological bandwagon have little reason to use pesticides and other agrochemicals.