Simulated climate change in a Mediterranean organic vineyard altered the plant physiology and decreased the vine production

In the last few years the development of HPLC techniques together with multivariate statistical methods allowed to set methodics of large discriminant and classing efficacy in the study of wine-grapes.

La création officielle du groupe Experts Zonage Vitivinicole à l’O.I.V., qui s’inscrit dans la Commission Viticulture, est récente. Le Professeur Mario FREGONI en assure la présidence depuis 1998, assisté du vice-président et du secrétaire général Mario FALCETTI. Ils ont été confirmés dans leurs fonctions lors des sessions de mars 2001. Actuellement, le groupe d’experts Zonage Vitivinicole de l’O.I.V. se compose de 40 délégués, représentant 18 pays membres. La mise en place de ce groupe a tout d’abord été initiée par l’Instituto Agrario de San Michele (Italie) et l’Unité de Recherches Vigne et Vin du Centre INRA d’Angers (France). Une collaboration entre les chercheurs s’est installée très tôt, dès 1987.

The seasonal’s climatic conditions determine the composition of grapes at harvest as they affect the vine’s physiology and development. High temperatures during the grape ripening period cause a high accumulation of sugars and degradation of fruit acidity ,and alter the synthesis of polyphenols. Therefore, some vineyard management can be applied in order to modify grapevine impact on climate variability. One example is the pre-pruning at the beginning of grape ripening, which can delay the ripening period and modify the composition of the grapes at harvest. This work aims to evaluate the pre-pruning field technique on yield components and alcohol content in wines of Tannat and Merlot varieties.

Champagne wines are produced via a two-step process: the first is an initial alcoholic fermentation of grape must that produces a still base wine, followed by a second fermentation in bottle – the prise de mousse – that produces the effervescence. This appellation produces non-vintage sparkling wines composed of still base wines assembled from different vintages, varieties, and regions. These base wines, or “reserve wines,” are typically conserved on their fine lies and used to compensate for quality variance between vintages (1). Continuously blending small amounts of these reserve wines into newer ones also facilitates preserving the producer’s “house style.”

The Ibero-American Network of Viticulture, a component of the program of agricultural technology of the CYTED (Ibero-American Program of Science and Technology for Development), is developing the project “Zoning Methodology and Application in Viticultural Regions of Ibero-America”.