Resilient vines: exploring varieties phenology and water use efficiency, under warm conditions

Abstract

As predicted by climate models, the rise in global temperatures is set to have a significant impact on vineyards. In regions such as the Douro, models show a change in the pattern of annual precipitation and an increase in temperature during the growing season (March–September or April–October). This may affect the suitability of some varieties for the region in the near future (Jones & Alves, 2012).

In order to maintain the quality of the wines produced, winegrowers could adopt various adaptation measures. Short-term measures are applied during the annual cycle of the vine, while long-term measures are adopted beyond the lifetime of the vineyard. One of the most widely discussed long-term adaptation measures is selecting better-adapted grapevine varieties (van Leeuwen et al., 2024).

In 2014, Symington Family Estates installed an experimental vineyard in the Douro Superior sub-region with 53 different Vitis vinifera varieties. The aim is to preserve and gain knowledge about these varieties, promote vine diversity, and study their viticultural and oenological potential under the same climate conditions.

Since 2016 (ten years dataset), phenology data has been collected according to the VitAdapt project protocol (Destrac-Irvine & van Leeuwen, 2016), with grape samples collected weekly from mid-veraison to assess ripening. During the 2023 and 2024 seasons, the isotopic δ13C content of grape juice was analysed to indirectly study the water use efficiency of grapevine varieties. The collected data enabled the classification of grapevine varieties according to cycle duration, thermal requirements for completing the main phenological phases and their capacity to cope with heat and water scarcity through carbon isotope discrimination (δ13C) (Plantevin et al., 2022; van Leeuwen et al., 2023).

The results obtained help to fill an information gap regarding grapevine varieties by providing winegrowers with knowledge to help them select grapes that are well adapted to local climatic conditions, thereby ensuring the sustainability of the industry in the future.

References

Destrac-Irvine, A., & van Leeuwen, C. (2016). The VitAdapt project: extensive phenotyping of a wide range of varieties in order to optimize the use of genetic diversity within the Vitis vinifera species as a tool for adaptation to a changing environment. In Sustainable grape and wine production in the context of climate change – Climwine 2016 (pp. 165–171). Vigne & Vin Publications Internationales.

Jones, G. V., & Alves, F. (2012). Impact of climate change on wine production: A global overview and regional assessment in the Douro Valley of Portugal. International Journal of Global Warming, 4(3/4): 383-406.

Plantevin, M., Gowdy, M., Destrac-Irvine, A., Marguerit, E., Gambetta, G. A., & van Leeuwen, C. (2022). Using δ¹³C and hydroscapes for discriminating cultivar specific drought responses. OENO One, 56(2), 239–250. https://doi.org/10.20870/oeno-one.2022.56.2.5434

van Leeuwen, C., Bois, B., Brillante, L., Destrac-Irvine, A., Gowdy, M., Martin, D., Plantevin, M., de Rességuier, L., Santesteban, L. G., & Zufferey, V. (2023). Carbon isotope discrimination (so-called δ¹³C) measured on grape juice is an accessible tool to monitor vine water status in production conditions. IVES Technical Reviews. https://doi.org/10.20870/IVES-TR.2023.7742

van Leeuwen, C., Destrac-Irvine, A., Eyschen, R., Giraud-Héraud, E., Guimberteau, G., Guiraud, O., Le Roux, R., de Rességuier, L., & van Leeuwen, K. (2024). Climate change impacts and adaptations of wine production. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 5(4), 258–275. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-024-00521-5