Climat et sol: critères d’évaluation et effets sur le comportement de la vigne

Climate change results in erratic weather conditions, which may lead for many crops including grapevine, to a reduced production and products of lower quality. Concerning grapevine, climate change results in shorter growing seasons and dates for budbreak, flowering and fruit maturity occur earlier in many regions. It also leads to an increase of various pests and diseases, as well as the vectors responsible for disease distribution.

A major topic in viticultural research is the analysis of the relationships between climate on one side, and grape and wine quality on the other. It is well known that climatic conditions

To investigate the impact of spatial variation in vine vigour on the accumulation of methoxypyrazines in the rachis of Cabernet-Sauvignon. Cabernet-Sauvignon rachis has been shown to contain significantly higher concentrations

The use of cover crops under the vines might be an alternative to the use of herbicides or tillage, improving grapevine quality and soil characteristics. The aim of this research was to study the implications of different management strategies of the soil under the vines (herbicide, cultivation or cover crops) on grapevine growth, water and nutritional status, gas exchange parameters and belowground microbial communities.
The experimental design consisted in 4 treatments applied on 35L-potted Tempranillo vegetative grapevines with 10 replicates each grown in an open-top greenhouse in 2022 and 2023. Treatments included two cover crop species (Trifolium fragiferum and Bromus repens), herbicide (glyphosate al 36%) and an untreated control.

Champagne or sparkling wines elaborated through the same traditional method, which consists in two major yeast-fermented steps, typically hold about 10 to 12 g/L of dissolved CO2 after the second fermentation in a closed bottle. Hundreds of molecules and macromolecules originating from grape and yeast cohabit with dissolved CO2; they are essential compounds contributing to many organoleptic characteristics (effervescence, foam, aroma, taste, colour…). Indeed, the second alcoholic fermentation and the maturation on lees (which may last from 12 months up to several years) both induce various quantitative and qualitative changes in the wine through the action of yeast, as listed hereafter: development of aromas during aging on lees, release of nitrogen compounds during autolysis and release of macromolecules (polysaccharides, lipids, nucleic acids) in wine.