Geostatistical analysis of the vineyards in the canton of Geneva in relation to soil and climate

Context and purpose of the study. Albeit standing as a fashionable research topic dual use of land as viti-voltaic still lacks of fundamental knowledge about whole canopy grapevine response to altered microclimate under panels vs open field conditions.

Aim: Wine aromatic profile is a combination of viticulture and oenological practices and it is related to character, quality, and consumer acceptance. Based on the competition between soil capacity and canopy development, and on the potential to produce sparkling wines at Caldas, in the south region of Minas Gerais (Brazil) (21°55´S and 46°23´W, altitude 1.100m), the aim of this work was the evaluation of the development of aromas (secondary metabolites) from grapes to sparkling wines in a vine-spacing experiment and whether the distance between the vines can influence the aromatic profile of the sparkling wines (final product). 

An alternative to improve grape quality is the application to the vineyard of elicitors. Although these compounds were first used to increase resistance of plants against pathogens, it has been found that they are also able to induce mechanisms involved in the synthesis of phenolic compounds and some amino acids. However, researches about the influence of elicitors on grape volatile composition are scarcely. Therefore, the aim of this work was to study the influence of methyl jasmonate (MeJ) foliar application on grape aroma composition over three consecutive vintages. MeJ was applied to Tempranillo grapevines at a concentration of 10 mM in 2013, 2014, and 2015 years. Control plants were sprayed with water.

In Franconia, the northern part of Bavaria in Germany, climate change, visible in earlier bud break, advanced flowering and earlier grape maturity, leads to a decrease of traditionally cultivated early ripening aromatic white wine varieties as Mueller-Thurgau (30 % of the wine growing area) and Bacchus (12 %). With the predicted rise of temperature in all European wine regions the conditions for white wine grape varieties will decline and the grapes themselves will lose a part of their aromatic and fruity expression. Variety change towards the cultivation of later ripening white wine varieties is a very expensive and long-term process, and must be accompanied by special marketing efforts.

A survey has been conducted on 32 students and 25 former students of 28 nationalities of an international master course training executives of the international Wine sector.