Drought responses of grapevine cultivars under different environments

The market trend heads to food products with less chemical inputs, including in oenology. During the winemaking process, sulfites are commonly use to avoid microbiological contamination and stabilization of the wine thanks to its antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. Nevertheless, this use is not without consequences on human health and environment, leading for example to allergic reaction and pollution. A biological alternative to these sulfites has emerges: the bioprotection.

The nitrogen composition of the grapes directly affects the developments of alcoholic fermentation and influences the final aromatic composition of the wines. The aim of this study was to determine the effect and efficiency of foliar applications of urea on the nitrogen composition of grapes. This study was carried out during 2023 vintage and in the Chenin vineyard located in Estacion Experimental Mendoza (Argentina). Three urea concentrations 3, 6 and 9 Kg N/ha (C1, C2, and C3, respectively) and control (T) were applied in this vineyard at veraison.

This essay was aimed to describe the clonal diversity of Oenococcus oeni in the malolactic fermentation of the carbonic maceration (CM) winemaking. The free and the pressed liquids from CM were sampled and compared to the wine from a standard winemaking with previous destemming and crushing (DC) of grapes [1]. O. oeni strain typification was performed by PFGE as González-Arenzana et al. described (2014) [2]. Results showed that 13 genotypes, referred as to letters, were distinguished from the 49 isolated strains, meaning the genotype “a” the 27%, the “b” the 14%, the “c” the 12%, the “d and e” the 10 % each other, and the remaining ones less than the 8% each one.

The global warming phenomenon involves the frequency of extreme meteorological events accompanied by a change in rainfall distribution. Irrigation frequency (IF) affects the spatial and temporal soil water distribution but its effects on the phenolic composition of the grape have been scarcely studied. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of four deficit irrigation frequencies of 30 % ETo: one irrigation per day (T01), two irrigations per week (T03), one irrigation per week (T07) and one irrigation every two weeks (T15) on berry phenolic composition at harvest.

The foliar application of urea has been shown to be able to satisfy the specific nutritional needs of the vine as well as to increase the nitrogen composition of the must. On the other hand, the use of nanotechnology could be of great interest in viticulture as it would help to slow down the release of urea and protect it against possible degradation. Several studies indicate that cell wall synthesis and remodeling are affected by nitrogen availability.