HAZE RISK ASSESSMENT OF MUSCAT MUSTS AND WINES : WHICH LABORATORY TEST ALLOWS A RELIABLE ESTIMATION OF THE HEATWAVE REALITY?

Microplastics can alter physicochemical and biogeochemical processes in the soil, but whether these changes have further effects on soil fertility, and if so, whether these effects vary depending on the type of soil in the vineyard and the type of plastic used in the vineyard. Knowing what types of plastics are currently used in vineyards in Slovenian viticultural regions as strings to tie vines to the stake, the aim of our study was to assess the effects of microplastic particles from polypropylene (PP) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) on the availability of macro (potassium (K), Potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and phosphate (P)) and micronutrients (iron (Fe), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn) and zinc (Zn)) in two vineyard soils contrasting in pH and mineralogy. For this purpose, a short-term soil incubation experiment (120 days) was carried out in which the soil samples were enriched with micro-PP and micro-PVC particles. After the incubation period, macro- and micronutrient availability were measured.

Climate change has brought several impacts that are becoming increasingly intense during the last few years and put at risk the quality of the berries or even the plant’s sustainability. Such extreme climatic events impact the composition of the wine while modulating its quality and the consumer preferences (Tempère et al., 2019). The three most important changes that take place in the must are: 1) decrease acidity, 2) increase of the concentration of sugar, hence increase of alcohol in the wine, and 3) modification
of the sensory balance and the development for example of cooked fruit aromas.

The current energy crisis means that interest in agrophotovoltaics has increased significantly. The reason behind this is that the system aims to combine agricultural production with energy production. During the three-year period from 2020 to 2022, the effects of photovoltaic panels on the vine, the yield and the quality of the must were studied in Walenstadt in northern Switzerland, an area with a cool, humid climate. 65 Pinot noir vines were planted in the 160m2 study area. Because of the large edge effects, only 3 repetitions with 4 vines each could be created. A significantly lower leaf infestation by Plasmopara viticola was observed among the panels in each of the three years.

Nowadays, the rapid growth of vineyards with organic practices and the use of copper as the only fun-gicide against downy mildew raises again the question of the effect of copper on varietal thiols in wine, especially 3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol (3SH) and its acetate (3SHA). A few decades ago, several works indicated that the use of copper in the vineyard had a negative effect on the content of varietal thiols in Sauvignon blanc wines [1, 2]. However, these studies only considered the concentration of the reduced form (RSH) of varietal thiols, without quantifying the oxidised ones. For this purpose, we proposed to monitor both reduced and oxidised forms of varietal thiols in wine under copper stress during alcoholic fermentation to have a more complete picture of the biological and chemical mechanisms.

Besides the increase in global mean temperature the second main challenge of a changing climate is the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) in relation to physiology and yield performance of grapevines. The benefits of increasing CO2 levels under greenhouse environment or open field studies have been well investigated for various annual crops. Research under free carbon dioxide enrichment on field-grown perennial plants such as grapevines is limited to a few studies. Further, chamber and greenhouse experiments have been conducted mostly on potted vines under eCO2 conditions.