Temperature-based phenology modelling for the grapevine 

The gradual change in rainfall patterns experienced in the south of France vineyards, especially around the Mediterranean sea, means that the vines are increasingly subject to summer drought. The winegrowers developped the use of irrigation techniques to ensure the maintenance of competitive yields in the production of wines under Protected Geographical Indication label. In practice, drip irrigation pipes can be installed above the ground or buried into the soil as well as at different distances from the vine row. The objective of this study was to examine the profiles of the wet bulbs of the soil obtained from two drip irrigation systems : aerial drip located under the vine row and subsurface drip placed in the middle of the inter-row. This experiment took place over two consecutive seasons (2020-2021) on a 3.4 ha Viognier plot in the Mediterranean region (PGI Oc, France) on sandy clay soil. The annual rainfalls were less than 400 mm. Soil water content probes were installed at different depths (20 – 40 – 60 – 80 cm) and at different lateralities from the vine row (30 – 60 – 90 – 120 cm) to control the formation of the soil wet bulb during irrigation. The mapping and the analysis of the data allowed a better understanding and differentiation of the water percolation when irrigating with subsurface or aerial drip. For the same amount of water and without differences of vine water status, it is shown that in a subsurface drip irrigation situation, the size of the wet bulb formed is larger than in aerial drip irrigation system.

Grafting plants uses intrinsic healing processes to join two different plants together to create one functional organism. To further our understanding of the molecular changes occurring during graft union formation in grapevine, we characterized the metabolome and transcriptome of intact and wounded cuttings (with and without buds to represent scions and rootstocks respectively), and homo- and heterografts at 0 and 14 days after wounding/grafting. As over-wintering, dormant plant material was grafted, we also characterized the gene expression changes in the wood during bud burst and spring activation of growth. We observed an asymmetrical pattern of gene expression between above and below the graft interface, auxin and sugar related genes were up-regulated above the graft interface, while genes involved in stress responses were up-regulated below the graft interface.

Background: The Flavan-3-ol extraction from grape skin and seed during red-winemaking and their retention into wines depend on many factors, some of which are modified in the winemaking of blend wines. Recent research shows that Marselan, have grapes with high proportion of skins with high concentrations of flavanols, but produces red-wines with low proportion of skin derived flavanols, differently to the observed in Syrah or Tannat. But the factors explaining these differences are not yet understood.

The purpose of the present study was to understand the overall concept of an aged dry white wine using a descriptive mental questionnaire. A total of 680 worldwide participants, grouped according to their involvement in the wine business, replied to an online questionnaire to characterize the sensory analytical and synthetic descriptors of an aged dry white wine. The descriptors were selected using a Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) approach concerning wine colour, aroma, taste, mouthfeel, and global appreciation.

Geospatial technologies have significant contribution to viticulture, especially in small-scale vineyards, which require precise management. Geospatial data collected by modern technologies, such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and satellite imagery, can be processed by modern software and easily be stored and transferred to GIS environments, highlighting important information about the health of vine plants, the yield of grapes and the wine, especially in wine-making varieties. The identification of field variability is very important, particularly for the production of high quality wine. Modern geospatial data management technologies are used to achieve an easy and effortless localization of the fields’ variability.