Incidence de la nature du sol et du cépage sur la maturation du raisin, à Saint Emilion, en 1995

Despite its relevance for wine quality and stability, red wine colloids have not still been
sufficiently investigated, an occurrence due to the lack of suitable analytical techniques to study them as they are present in wine.

Environmental factors like soil and climate influence grape quality potential. Their impact is often mediated through vine water and nitrogen status. Depending on the color of the grapes (red or white) and the type of wine produced, the desired level of vine water and nitrogen status for optimum wine quality is different. Little investigation has been carried out concerning these factors and their potential influence on sparkling wine quality on two vintages. In this study vine water and nitrogen status were assessed at a very high density and related to grape composition and berry weight. Through statistical analyses, the major factors driving grape quality potential on Pinot noir in Champagne were highlighted.

In the context of sustainable viticulture, modern and efficient techniques to determine water status are required to optimize irrigation practices. Proximal techniques such as thermography and spectroscopy have shown promising results. When these techniques are incorporated into mobile systems is possible to evaluate the water status on-the-go, offering the possibility to generate variability maps. However, in most cases, complex protocols of data acquisition and analysis are required. Also, the inherent physiological behaviour of the plants under certain water stress conditions needs to be considered. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of scion-rootstock combinations on the performance of a predefined plant-based method based on proximal near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy.

ÂThe natural abundance of carbon stable isotopes has been reported to be related to water availability in grapevines quite widely. In the case of nitrogen, the natural abundance of its stable isotopes is mainly affected by the nature of the source of nitrogen (organic vs. inorganic) used by the plant, though the bibliography available for grapevine is very scarce.

Developing technologies that help vines survive and produce in quantity and quality within current times is mandatory. In this sense, in the 2021/2022 agricultural harvest, the influence of the foliar application of seaweed – Laminaria japonica was studied, aiming at productivity and quality of the must in the ‘Merlot’ grape. In the city of “Santana do Livramento”, “Rio Grande do Sul” (RS), Brazil; in a 15-year-old commercial vineyard of ‘Merlot’ clone ENTAV-INRA® 347, grafted onto ‘SO4’ rootstock, the following treatments were applied on 6 occasions: No treatment (control) and; Foliar application of Laminaria japonica seaweed (commercial product: Exal (ALAS), 2 kg ha-1).