Terroir 2016 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 The pedoclimatic conditions impact the yeast assimilable nitrogen concentration in the grapevine must and the valorisation of foliarnitrogen fertilisation

The pedoclimatic conditions impact the yeast assimilable nitrogen concentration in the grapevine must and the valorisation of foliarnitrogen fertilisation

Abstract

Aims: Agroscope investigated the efficiency of nitrogen fertilisation via foliar urea application at veraison with the aim of raising the yeast assimilable nitrogen (YAN) concentration in the musts. The observations were conducted over three vintages on two grapevine cultivars in several pedoclimatic conditions of the Leman wine region, Switzerland. Knowing that the YAN in the must plays a key role in wine quality, the aim of this study was finding the main parameters affecting the final YAN level in order to better control them.

Methods and results: Five plots of Doral (white grape, Chasselas x Chardonnay) and five plots of Gamaret (red grape, Gamay x Reichensteiner) were chosen over 80 km of vineyards. Pedologic profiles were realised. Vegetal materials, date of plantation and cultivation practices were kept constant for comparison purposes. Each plot was divided in two treatments of 60 vines each: a control treatment and a nitrogen fertilized treatment (20 kg N/ha as foliar urea applied at veraison). Phenological development, nitrogen status and grape maturation of vines were monitored. 50 kg of grapes from each treatment were harvested and then vinified separately using a standard protocol. YAN levels in musts were significantly enhanced by foliar-nitrogen fertilisation, but strong vintage, site and cultivar effects were pointed out: average YAN gain over 3 years was 69 ± 32 mg N/L in Doral must and 52 ± 27 mg N/L in Gamaret must. Some sites consistently presented higher gains (e.g. Doral at Villeneuve, +106 mg N/L). The bigger water holding capacity and the deeper effective root zone seemed to mainly enhance vine nitrogen status. No correlation could be established between initial leaf N content and the variation of YAN gain. YAN in must was the parameter that best explained the positive variations in wine sensory characteristics and, in the case of Doral only, was highly correlated to the overall appreciation of the wines (R2 = 0.70).

Significance and impact of the study: This work confirms that YAN level in must, in relation to climate and soil characteristics, contributes to the terroir effect on the wine quality. YAN concentration is clearly influenced by pedoclimatic conditions and cultivar. The impact of foliar-N supply is not always sufficient for a significant improvement of wine overall appreciation particularly for the cv. Gamaret. This observations may assist the development of sustainable practices to increase the YAN concentration in musts.

DOI:

Publication date: June 23, 2020

Issue: Terroir 2016

Type: Article

Authors

Thibaut VERDENAL (1), Vivian ZUFFEREY (1), Stéphane BURGOS (2), Johannes RÖSTI (1), Fabrice LORENZINI (3), Agnès DIENES-NAGY (3), Jorge SPANGENBERG (4), Katia GINDRO (1), Jean-Laurent SPRING (1) and Olivier VIRET (1)

(1) Institute for Plant Production Sciences, Agroscope, 1009 Pully, Switzerland
(2) Changins, 1260 Nyon, Switzerland
(3) Institute for Food Sciences, Agroscope, 1260 Nyon, Switzerland
(4) Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne, Switzerland

Contact the author

Keywords

terroir, yeast assimilable nitrogen YAN, leaf urea fertilisation, wine quality, terroir

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2016

Citation

Related articles…

The impact of leaf canopy management on eco-physiology, wood chemical properties and microbial communities in root, trunk and cordon of Riesling grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.)

In the last decades, climate change required already adaptation of vineyard management. Increase in temperature and unexpected weather events cause changes in all phenological stages requiring new management tools. For example, defoliation can be a useful tool to reduce the sugar content in the berries creating differences in the wine profiles. In a ten-year field experiment using Riesling (Vitis vinifera L, planted 1986, Geisenheim, Germany), various mechanical defoliation strategies and different intensities were trialed until 2016 before the vineyard was uprooted. Wood was sampled from the plant compartments root, trunk, cordon and shoot for analyses of physicochemical properties (e.g. lignin and element content, pH, diameter), nonstructural carbohydrates and the microbial communities. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of reduced canopy leaf area on the sink-source allocation into different compartments and potential changes of the fungal and prokaryotic wood-inhabiting community using a metabarcoding approach. Severe summer pruning (SSP) of the canopy and mechanical defoliation (MDC) above the bunch zone decreased the leaf area by 50% compared to control (C). SSP reduced the photosynthetic capacity, which resulted in an altered source-sink allocation and carbohydrate storage. With lower leaf area, less carbohydrates are allocated. This for example resulted in a decreased trunk diameter. Further, it affected the composition of the grapevine wood microbiota. SSP and MDC management changed significantly the prokaryotic community composition in wood of the root samples, but had no effect in other compartments. In general, this study found strong compartment and less management effects of the microbial community composition and associated physicochemical properties. The highest microbial diversities were identified in the wood of the trunk, and several species were recorded the first time in grapevine.

Upscaling the integrated terroir zoning through digital soil mapping: a case study in the Designation of Origin Campo de Borja

homogeneous zones by intersecting several partial zonings of major factors that influence vineyard growth. Each of them follows specific process from their corresponding disciplines. Soil zoning specifically refers to a Soil Resource Inventory map that has traditionally been generated by conventional soil mapping methods. These methods have shortcomings in reaching fine cartographic and categorical details and involve significant expenses, which undermines their applicability. A new framework named Digital Soil Mapping has introduced quantitative models by statistical techniques to establish soil-landscape relationships and is able to provide intensive scale cartography.

In the present study, a microzoning at 1:10.000 scale is generated from an initial zoning, where the conventional soil map with polytaxic map units is replaced by a new one from digital techniques that disaggregates them. The comparison between the zonings considers a quantitative evaluation of capability for each Homogeneous Terroir Unit by means of the Viticultural Quality Index and its categorization based on its distribution by map. The spatial intersection of both maps gives rise to a confusion matrix in which the flows of class variations after the substitution are assessed.

The results show a five-fold increase in the number of Homogeneous Terroir Units identified and a larger differentiation among them, evidenced by a wider range in the capability index distribution. Both elements are accompanied by an increase in the detection of areas of higher potential within previously undervalued uniform zones.These features are a direct effect of the improvements brought by Digital Soil Mapping techniques and would verify the advantages of their implementation in the Integrated Terroir zoning. Eventually, such new highly detailed terroir units would benefit precision viticulture and sustainable management practices.

Analysis of some environmental factors and cultural practices that affect the production and quality of the Manto Negro, Callet and Prensal Blanc varieties

45 non irrigated vineyards distributed in the DO (Denomination) Pla i Llevant de Mallorca and the DO Binissalem Mallorca were used to investigate the characteristics of production and quality and their relationships certain environmental factors and cultural practices. The grape varieties investigated are autochthonous to the island of Mallorca, Manto Negro and Callet as red and Prensal Blanc as white. All plants were measured for four consecutive years in the main production and quality parameters. Among the environmental factors, the type of soil has been studied, more specifically its water retention capacity, the planting density, the age of the vineyard and the level of viral infection. The presence or absence of virus seems to have no effect on any component studied in the varieties studied. For the white variety Prensal Blanc age is negatively correlated with production and the number of bunches, nevertheless it does not cause any effect on the required quality parameters. However, for the red varieties Callet and Manto Negro, the age of the plantation is the variable that best correlates with the quality parameters, therefore the old vines should be the object of preservation by the viticulturists and winemakers in order to guarantee its contribution to the quality of the wines made with these varieties.

Heatwaves and grapevine yield in the Douro region, crop model simulations

Heatwaves or extreme heat events can be particularly harmful to agriculture. Grapevines grown in the Douro winemaking region are particularly exposed to this threat, due to the specificities of the already warm and dry climatic conditions. Furthermore, climate change simulations point to an increase in the frequency of occurrence of these extreme heat events, therefore posing a major challenge to winegrowers in the Mediterranean type climates. The current study focuses on the application of the STICS crop model to assess the potential impacts of heatwaves in grapevine yields over the Douro valley winemaking region. For this purpose, STICS was applied to grapevines using high-resolution weather, soil and terrain datasets over the Douro. To assess the impact of heatwaves, the weather dataset (1989-2005) was artificially modified, generating periods with anomalously high temperatures (+5 ºC), at certain onset dates and with specific durations (from 5 to 9 days). The model was run with this modified weather dataset and results were compared to the original unmodified runs. The results show that heatwaves can have a very strong impact on grapevine yields, strongly depending on the onset dates and duration of the heatwaves. The highest negative impacts may result in a decrease in the yield by up to -35% in some regions. Despite some uncertainties inherent to the current modelling assessment, the present study highlights the negative impacts of heatwaves on viticultural yields in the Douro region, which is critical information for stakeholders within the winemaking sector for planning suitable adaptation measures.

A predictive model of spatial Eca variability in the vineyard to support the monitoring of plant status

[lwp_divi_breadcrumbs home_text="IVES" use_before_icon="on" before_icon="||divi||400" module_id="publication-ariane" _builder_version="4.19.4" _module_preset="default" module_text_align="center" module_font_size="16px" text_orientation="center"...