The invasive seaweed Rugulopteryx okamurae: an innovative plant protective extract

Climate change presents a significant challenge to grape growing worldwide as increased temperatures lead to wines with increased sugar and pH levels. Manipulation of the exposed leaf area is a powerful lever governing the assimilation and storage of non-structural carbohydrates in grapevines. Reducing the leaf-to-fruit ratio is now considered as a tool for adapting to hotter and dryer grape growing conditions.

Overarching surveys of QTL (Quantitative Trait Loci) studies in both model plants and staple crops have facilitated the access to information and boosted the impact of existing data on plant improvement activities. Today, the grapevine community is ready to take up the challenge of making the wealth of QTL information F.A.I.R.. To ensure that all valuable published data can be used more effectively, the myriad of identified QTLs have to be captured, standardised and stored in a dedicated public database.
As an outcome of the GRAPEDIA initiative, QTL-dedicated experts from around the world have gathered to compile the grapevine QTLome: the complete information (e.g., map positions, associated phenotypes) describing all experimentally supported QTLs for a specific trait.

Clay-based ceramic vessels (jars, pyhtoi, etc.) for wine fermentation and aging processes have been used in several cultures for millennia. This know-how still in practice in several countries of the Armenian highland is gaining worldwide in curiosity, popularity, and interest. Ceramic pots are famous among traditional winemakers for their benefits such as temperature regulation, natural cooling system, favorable oxygen exchange, and impact on pH, which are different from those of stainless steel, wood barrels, or concrete.

The quality of wines has often been associated with their geographical area of production. The aim of this work was to characterize Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Xinomavro red wines from different geographical areas of Amyndeon and Naoussa in Northern Greece, elaborated with variables that contribute to their differentiation, such as soil characteristics, altitude, monthly average temperature and rainfall.
Xinomavro fruit parcels from different vineyards within the two PDO zones (5 PDO Naoussa and 6 PDO Amyndeon) were vinified following a standard winemaking process. A total of 25 aroma compounds were quantified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with simultaneous full scan and selected ion monitoring for data recording, and odor activity values (OAVs) were determined.

Wine grape production is increasingly vulnerable to freeze damage due to warming climates, milder winters, and unpredictable late spring frosts. Traditional methods for assessing frost damage in grapevines which combine fieldwork and meteorological data, are expensive, time-consuming, and labor-intensive. Remote sensing could offer a rapid, inexpensive way to detect frost damage at a regional scale. Remote sensing approaches were used to assess freeze damage in grapevines by evaluating satellite-derived vegetation indices (VIs) to understand the severity and spatial distribution of damage in several New York vineyards immediately after a frost event (May 17th-18th, 2023). PlanetScope 3m satellite images acquired before and after the freeze were used to map damage and measure changes in VIs for vineyards in the Finger Lakes region.