Effects of irrigation and its application period on agronomic behavior and grape quality of the grape of cv. Tempranillo in the A.O. Ribera del Duero

Abstract

Nowadays, irrigation of vineyard is a good tool that can help to mitigate the effects of climate change that most of worldwide wine areas suffer. Its application is determined by several variables, being the period and dose of application the most important. These variables should be defined according to factors related, to a greater or lesser extent, to the edaphoclimatic characteristics of the place.

Throughout the period 2009-2011 it has been studied the application of deficit irrigation in two different periods of the summer season, through the following experimental treatments: rainfed (R0), 20% ETo from vegetative growing stop (R1) and 20% ETo from veraison (R2). The trial was developed with vines of Tempranillo on 110R rootstock, planted in 1999 and trellised as a Royat bilateral cordon. The vine distances were 3 m × 1.5 m (2,222 plants/ha). The study was conducted in a vineyard located at 900 m altitude in a shallow and not very fertile soil, in Castrillo de Duero (Valladolid, Spain), belonging to the A.O. Ribera del Duero. It has been aimed at vegetative, productive and quality response of vineyards to irrigation and variation of its application period.

The results obtained have shown some effects of the irrigation on vegetative growth, productivity and quality of the grape. Irrigation has increased grape yield and Ravaz Index. In general, the earlier onset of the period of watering (R1) has shown little differences in the parameters studied, with a slight tendency to increase grape yield and cluster weight with respect to the irrigation more delayed (R2) and, greatly, to the rainfed vines (R0). On the other hand, rainfed vines (R0) has favoured some parameters of the grape quality (acidity, polyphenols and anthocyanins) compared to both irrigated treatments.