Vineyard yield estimation using image analysis: assessing bunch occlusions and its dependency on fruiting zone canopy features

The root and shoot abscisic acid (ABA) accumulation in response to water deficit and its relation with stomatal conductance is longtime known in grapevine. ABA-dependent and ABA-independent signalling response to osmotic stress coexist in sessile plants. In grapevine, the signaling role of ABA in response to water stress conditions and its influence on berry quality is critical to manage grapevine acclimation to climate change.

Condensed grape tannins play a major role in the organoleptic properties and quality of red wine. Recently, a new sub-family of macrocyclic condensed tannins has been identified in red wine and named “crown tannins”. Indeed, the first compound of the family identified and characterised by NMR was the crown procyanidin tetramer which is composed of a macrocyclic structure composed of four (-)-epicatechins link together by B-type interflavanoid linkage in the following an alternative sequences of C4-C8 and C4-C6 linkage. The 3D structure of this unusual crown procyanidin family reveals a central cavity in the molecule [1].

The application of remote and proximal sensing is a fast and efficient method to monitor grapevine vegetative and physiological parameters and is considered valuable to derive information on associated yield and quality traits in the vineyard. Further details can be obtained by the application of molecular analysis at the gene expression level aiming at elucidating how pathways controlling the formation of different grape quality traits are influenced by spatial variability. This work aims at evaluating intra-vineyard variability in grape composition at harvest and at comparing this with remotely sensed canopy vegetation data and molecular-based approaches.

Light is a fundamental part at sales points which influences in the conservation of wines, particularly in those that are sold in transparent glass bottles such as rosé wines and increasingly white wines. The photochemical effect known as “light-struck taste” can cause changes in the aromatic characteristics of the wine. This “light-struck taste” is due to reactions triggered by the photochemical sensitivity of riboflavin (RBF).

Xylotrechus arvicola (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) is a pest in vineyards (Vitis vinifera) in the main Spain wine-producing regions with Protected Denomination of Origin (PDO). The action of the larvae, associated to the spreading of wood fungi, causes damage especially in important varieties of V. vinifera. X. arvicola females lay eggs concentrated in cracks or under the rhytidome in the wood vines, which allows the emerging larvae to get into the wood and make galleries inside the plant being then necessary to prune intensively or to pull up the bored plants (1). The objective of the study was to evaluate captures of X. arvicola insects in five varieties of V. vinifera in PDO León.