Using climate services to project grapevine varietal adequation under climate change – application to cv. Tempranillo in the Douro wine region

Nitrogen (N) is quite important nutrient in grapevine development and must quality, but under Mediterranean climatic conditions, available soil water (ASW) during grapevine development can also influence vigour and must quality. The aim was to determine the influence of soil nitrate (NO3-) availability on N foliar, yield, and must quality in vineyards with similar available water holding capacity (AWC). For this purpose, four cv. Tempranillo (Vitis vinifera L.) vineyards were selected. All of them are placed in Uruñuela municipality (La Rioja, Spain), separated less than 2.5 km and in a slope <1 %, in soils with similar soil chemistry properties and with similar rooting depth (ranging between 105 cm and 110 cm).

Winegrowing is still characterized by the extensive use of chemical fertilizers and plant protection products, despite strong recommendations to limit these practices. A part of these xenobiotics and metals are then found in grape juice and wine, causing a major health concern, as well as negatively affecting the fermentation process. In recent years, there has been renewed interest in non-Saccharomyces yeasts. These species have a wide phenotypic diversity, which would be exploited to broaden the aromatic palette of wines.

Secondary (or specialised) metabolites such as terpenes and phenolic compounds are produced by plants for various roles which include defence against pathogens and herbivores, protection against abiotic stress, and plant signalling. Additionally, these metabolites influence grapevine quality traits such as colour, aroma, taste, and nutritional value. However, the biosynthesis of these metabolites is often complex and controlled by multiple genes which in grapevine are predominantly uncharacterised.

Implementing alternative grapevine systems that incorporate sustainable strategies and innovative farming practices is essential. However, we lack tools for measuring the impact of these new practices on the overall sustainability of vineyards. DEXi PM Vigne (Gary et al., 2015) is a tool developed for ex ante assessment of the sustainability of grapevine cropping systems, from the plot to the farm scale. In the present study, we focused on implementing new strategies of integrated crop protection management with limited pesticide use in vineyards.

Tropical fruit aromas in wines are thought to be important to wine consumers, although there is little research to confirm this statement. With so many wine styles available, it has become important to understand the qualities that are desirable to consumers and how to achieve those qualities. Thiols and esters are compounds that have been found to cause tropical fruit aromas in chardonnay (ref). Fermentation temperature gradients and skin contact were found to increase these compounds using micro scale fermentations. This work aimed to scale up these fermentations/operations to determine if the desired tropical fruit aromas could still be achieved and if there is a perceivable difference in tropical fruit aromas, liking, and emotional response in the wines at the consumer level.