Enhancing table grape production: addressing challenges and opportunities for sustainability and quality improvement

Row orientation and canopy management are essential for high quality grapevine production. Microclimatic conditions of the leaves and fruits can be influenced by the canopy geometry. Remote sensing is a very promising tool to describe vegetative growth and physiological behavior of vineyards. However, the correlation between remotely sensed data and in situ field measurements has been described scarcely in the scientific literature so far. The aim of the study was to correlate remotely sensed data obtained with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) with in situ field measurements to describe canopy structure.

The agro-ecological transition in winegrowing can benefit from the environmental assessment of practices to inform producers’ technical choices. life cycle assessment (lca) evaluates the environmental impact of a product over its entire life cycle. this paper takes a look at the tools available for the detailed assessment and eco-design of winegrowing practices, their uses and developments in the vitarbae research project (2023-2026). this project aims to establish and equip support and training courses for the agroecological transition in viticulture and fruit arboriculture.

The shelf life of wine is a major concern for the wine industry. This is particularly true for wines intended for long cellaring, which are supposed to reach their peak after an ageing period ranging from a few months to several years, or even decades. Low, controlled oxygen inputs through the closure system are generally necessary for the wine to evolve towards its optimum organoleptic characteristics. Our previous studies have already shown that the interface between the cork and the bottleneck plays a crucial role in the transfer of oxygen into the bottled wine.

A trend to reduce chemical inputs in wines exists, especially sulfur dioxide (SO2). This additive is widely used due to its antioxidant, antiseptic and antioxidasic properties. During without sulfites vinification, bioprotection by adding yeast on harvest could be a sulfites alternative. With extension of this wine market, sensory impact linked to sulfites absence and/or sulfites alternative should be evaluated. That’s what this approach proposes to do, focusing on sensory characteristics of wines produced with or without SO2 addition during the winemaking process. METHODS: Wines were elaborated from Merlot grapes of two maturity levels according to three modalities: SO2, without SO2 and bioprotection on harvest (mix of Torulaspora delbrueckii and Metschnikowia pulcherrima). SO2 modality was sulfited throughout the winemaking and aging processes whether other modalities received any addition. After two years of aging, sensory studies were carried out with a specific panel for one month. First, descriptors were generated to differentiate the wines, then panelists were trained on these specific descriptors for five sessions and finally wines sensory profiles were elaborated

Aims: Soils are an intrinsic feature of the landscape and have influenced culturally and economically important terroir delineation in many wine-producing regions of the world. Soil physiochemical properties govern a wide array of ecosystem services, and can therefore affect grapevine health and fruit development. These physiochemical properties can reflect a combination of factors,