Comparing the chemical and sensory consequences of grapevine smoke exposure in grapes and wine from different cultivars and different wine regions in Australia

Water is the main limiting factor for yield in viticulture. Improving drought adaptation in viticulture will be an increasingly important issue under climate change. Genetic variability of water deficit responses in grapevine partly results from the rootstocks, making them an attractive and relevant mean to achieve adaptation without changing the scion genotype. The objective of this work was to characterize the rootstock effect on the diurnal regulation of scion transpiration. A large panel of 55 commercial genotypes were grafted onto Cabernet Sauvignon. Three biological repetitions per genotype were analyzed. Potted plants were phenotyped on a greenhouse balance platform capable of assessing real-time water use and maintaining a targeted water deficit intensity. After a 10 days well-watered baseline period, an increasing water deficit was applied for 10 days, followed by a stable water deficit stress for 7 days. Pruning weight, root and aerial dry weight and transpiration were recorded and the experiment was repeated during two years. Transpiration efficiency (ratio between aerial biomass and transpiration) was calculated and δ13C was measured in leaves for the baseline and stable water deficit periods. A large genetic variability was observed within the panel. The rootstock had a significant impact on nocturnal transpiration which was also strongly and positively correlated with maximum daytime transpiration. The correlations with growth and water use efficiency related traits will be discussed. Transpiration data were also related with VPD and soil water content demonstrating the influence of environmental conditions on transpiration. These results highlighted the role of the rootstock in modulating water deficit responses and give insights for rootstock breeding programs aimed at identifying drought tolerant rootstocks. It was also helpful to better define the mechanisms on which the drought tolerance in grapevine rootstocks is based on.

A major goal of modern grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) breeding programs is the introgression of resistance genes along with desirable traits for better adaptation to climate change. Developmental stages have an impact on yield components and berry composition and are expected to shift towards earlier dates in the future. We investigated the genetic determinism of phenological stages in the progeny of a cross between two grapevine hybrids, each carrying several quantitative trait loci (QTL) for downy mildew and powdery mildew resistance.

The Institut Français De La Vigne Et Du Vin (IFV) is conducting many experiments on innovative winegrowing practices, which are emerging in companies in the sector, or which are still at the R&D stage for agricultural suppliers. The purpose of these practices may be to reduce environmental impact, to adapt vineyards to climate change, or to achieve other technical, economic or social aims. Whatever the objective, it is necessary to verify the relevance of these new practices, and in particular their environmental relevance, i.e. That at the very least, the changes in practices do not increase the environmental impact of the technical itineraries.

By dissecting the root system architecture (RSA) into its underpinning components (e.g. root emission, axial growth, radial growth, branching, root direction or tropism) and identifying the relationships between them, functional-structural 3D root models are promising tools for analyzing the diversity and complexity of root system phenotypes with Genotype × Environment interactions. The model parameters are assumed to be synthetic traits, less influenced by the environment, and consequently with less polygenic architectures than the integrative RSA traits they drive. Root models can serve as a basis for in silico development of root system ideotypes by highlighting the developmental processes and parameters that most likely influence RSA fitness.

Under the pressure of global warming, several wine grape growing regions around the world are increasingly suffering from advanced and compressed phenology; endangering wine character while also creating serious logistic problems. From a physiological standpoint, the issue of delaying ripening is not simple as, in several instances, only a few processes must be delayed (i.e. sugar accumulation into the berries) while other events such as pigmentation and accumulation of other important phenolic compounds should proceed at a normal rate. Thus, the issue of decoupling technological maturity from phenolic maturity is another important consideration. Over the last decades, several research groups have endeavored to establish alternate cultural practices aimed at addressing this decoupling. In some cases, special applications of quite robust and well known practices regarding physiological principles have been utilized, however some completely new techniques are also being studied. In figure 1 of the review, we offer a panorama of the available tools and in the text we elaborate on those having provided most reliable and consistent results under an array of genotypes and environmental conditions. Among these, primary focus is given to post‐veraison—apical to the cluster—leaf removal (that can also be suitably replaced by applications of anti‐transpirants); the use of kaolin against multiple summers’ stresses; and a drastic version of late winter pruning having the potential to postpone ripening into a cooler period with improved grape composition and a limited negative impact on yield and storage reserves replenishment.