Observation and modeling of climate at fine scales in wine-producing areas

A multidisciplinary approach aiming at studying the grape-growing areas also referred as “Terroir” was initiated a few years ago in Switzerland.

The markets for quality wine are becoming more competitive as newer producers emerge and traditional producers improve their quality. The concept of terroir is one way to differenzi­ate wines in a competitive market and to enhance producer income.

Variations in average growing season and ripening season temperatures within the Walla Walla Valley American Viticultural Area are related to elevation and regional and local topography.

Aging process is an essential stage in the improvement of wine quality. This process is usually performed by contact with oak wood whose compounds are released and transferred to wine, acquiring typical aging bouquet. Although the use of oak chips is a practice generally accepted as alternative to barrels to shorten aging process, the application of emerging technologies is being unfolded to accelerate this stage.

Vine diseases have a strong impact on vineyards sustainability, which in turns leads to strong economic consequences. Among those diseases, Flavescence dorée spreads quickly and is incurable, which led in France to the setup of a mandatory pest control implying the systematic use of pesticides and the prospection and uprooting of every infected plants. Remote sensing could be a very powerful tool to optimize prospection as it allows to produce quickly accurate maps over large areas. Recent studies have shown that high spatial resolution (10cm/pixel) multispectral images acquired from UAVs allow to map Flavescence dorée in vineyards using leaves discolorations [e.g. Albetis et al., Remote Sensing, 2017].