Système de Classification Climatique Multicritères (CCM) Géoviticole

Grapevine leaf removal (LR) in the cluster area is typically done between fruit set and cluster closure to create an unfavorable microclimate for fungal diseases, such as Botrytis cinerea and powdery mildew. Grape growers are now turning their attention to pre-flowering LR, which has additional benefits under certain conditions. When applied before flowering, LR strongly affects fruit set and thus the number of berries per cluster. It is therefore a good yield control tool, replacing time-consuming manual cluster thinning (Poni et al. 2006). It also improves berry structure, that is, skin thickness, skin-to-pulp ratio, and berry composition (total soluble solids, titratable acidity, and polyphenols) (Palliotti et al. 2012; Komm and Moyer 2015). By exacerbating competition for assimilates between reproductive and vegetative organs, pre-flowering LR also poses some risks. Excessive yield loss at the same year’s harvest due to a too low fruit set rate is the main concern: intensive pre-flowering LR (100% of the cluster area) can induce up to 50% yield loss in potted vines (Poni et al. 2005). Other parameters, such as cool climatic conditions during flowering, also affect fruit set rate and make it difficult to predict potential yield at harvest. Repeated and overly intensive preflowering LR can have repercussions over time and induce a decline in bud fruiting and plant vigor (Risco et al. 2014).

Esca is one of the major grapevine trunk diseases that cause vineyards decline and important economic losses in vineyards.

Malolactic fermentation (MLF) is an important step in winemaking to improve wine quality through deacidification, increased microbial stability, and altered wine flavor. The phenolic composition of wine influences the growth and metabolism of lactic acid bacteria (lab) used for MLF.

Developing a sustainable agricultural production system and acquiring the full potential of land resources requires employing land-use assessment. This entails knowledge of the climate, soil, and topography of the area of interest.

The evaluation of the current and future impact of climate change on viticulture requires an integrated view on a complex interacting system within the soil-plant-atmospheric continuum under continuous change. Aside of the globally observed increase in temperature in almost all viticulture regions for at least four decades, we observe several clear trends at the regional level in the ratio of precipitation to potential evapotranspiration. Additionally the recently published 6th assessment report of the ipcc (the physical science basis) shows case-dependent further expected shifts in climate patterns which will have substantial impacts on the way we will conduct viticulture in the decades to come.