Phenotyping bud break and trafficking of dormant buds from grafted vine

Grapevine leaves are known to contain different polyphenols such as flavonols, catechins and stilbenes, which are known to act as main contributors for plant defense against pathogens (1). While the composition for some major cultivars has been studied, there is lack of systematic comparison about the content of these compounds in the wide ecodiversity of Vitis vinifera cv. Recent advances in Mass Spectrometry-based Metabolomics allow a wider and more sensitive description of these polyphenols, as instance of those present in leaves (2). Such information could help to better explain leaf traits regarding the development of the leaf or to the plant tolerance to a pathogen. Moreover, these compounds offer appealing applications for human health due to their antioxidant activities.

In recent years there has been a growing demand for alternative packaging designs in the food industry focused on diminishing the carbon footprint. Despite the environmental advantages of cans versus bottles, the traditional environment of wine has hindered the establishment of less contaminant containers. In this context, the objective of this study was to understand and generate knowledge about consumers´ perception of canned wines in comparison to bottled wines.

Performing accurate vineyard yield estimation is of upmost importance as it provides important benefits to the whole vine and wine industry. Recently, image-analysis approaches have been explored to address this issue however this approach has as main challenge the bunch occlusion, mostly by vegetation but also by neighboring bunches. The present work aims at assessing the magnitude of bunch occlusion by neighboring bunches and to evaluate its dependency on a selection of vegetative and reproductive vine parameters assessed at fruiting zone. Forty vine segments (1 m) of two vineyard plots of the white cultivars ‘Alvarinho’ and ‘Arinto’ were assessed for vegetative and reproductive features at fruiting zone and imaged with a 2D camera.

Reducing sugar accumulation in grape (Vitis vinifera L.) berries may be a way to mitigate the effect of climate change. Managing canopy and crop load is an effective way to do so, however, reducing canopy size has been demonstrated to induce undesirable effects on anthocyanins. The aim of this study was to test if an application of exogenous ABA on the grape berries of defoliated vines (⅔ of the leaves removed) can result in slower sugar accumulation while maintaining grape and wine quality. An experiment with defoliation and exogenous ABA application on directly on clusters (factorial design 2×2) was performed with ‘Tempranillo’ fruit-bearing cuttings.

The growing interest in minority grape varieties is due to their potential for adaptation to global warming and their oenological capabilities. However, the cultivation of these varieties has often been limited due to their low economic efficiency. One such example is Maturana Blanca, a recently recovered and authorized minority grape variety in the DOCa Rioja region, known for its remarkable oenological potential but low productivity. This study aimed to increase the yield of Maturana Blanca by implementing the vertical cordon training system, which allowed for a higher number of buds per plant and an increased cluster count per vine.