Preserving wine typicity in a climate change scenario: Examples from the Willamette Valley, Oregon

Tomatoes and Grapes are berries that are genetically related and therefore at least partially their developmental pathways leading to a fleshy fruit should share some of the components. In a sense knowledge obtained from the model plant tomato could be useful for grape and conversely the more amenable tomato can be used to test some hypothesis that would be difficult to obtain in grape. Research in my lab and other labs have led to a better understanding of the molecular genetics mechanisms underlying fruit development and ripening in tomato and more specifically those related to metabolite accumulation that may lead to changes in fruit nutritional and flavor composition. This research has involved the use of genetic variability in natural population, but also biparental population and genetically engineered lines that are easy to develop in tomato tomato but not in grape. NGTs also can be easily implemented in tomato to not only speed up the gene-to-trait but also develop new tomato varieties.

A soil management and vine irrigation trial was carried out for 4 consecutive years from 2020 to 2023 at agroscope’s experimental vineyard in leytron (Valais, Switzerland) with the Chasselas grape variety (clone 14-33/4, grafted on 5bb). Two types of soil maintenance (bare soil with chemical weeding and sown grass) coupled with two water regimes (with and without drip irrigation from flowering to veraison) were compared in a randomized design with four replicates of 10 vines each.

Viti-tunnel®, une innovation imaginée pour répondre à deux des objectifs majeurs des viticulteurs : 1.la sécurisation de la vendange : viti-tunnel® permet de protéger les vignobles des pertes de récolte dues aux maladies, au gel et à la grêle. 2.la réduction des pesticides : viti-tunnel® permet de réduire de plus de 90 %, le recours aux produits phytosanitaires et aux passages de pulvérisateurs, et ce, en toute sécurité pour la vendange. Un dispositif automatisé pour protéger les vignes viti-tunnel® est un dispositif de mise à l’abri automatique des rangs de vigne pendant les pluies et les évènements climatiques extrêmes.

The analysis of the distribution of natural plant populations allows an ecological characterization of cultivated environments in thermal, water and trophic terms; it guides the choice or selection of plants (or grape varieties) to cultivate (Astruc et al ., 1984, 1987; Delpoux, 1971; Jacquinet and Astruc, 1979). This approach has given good results in areas where the topography is the determining factor in the ecological differentiation of the terroirs.

Warming trends over the winegrowing regions lead to an advance of grapevine phenology, diminution of yield and increased sugar content and must pH with a lower polyphenol content, especially anthocyanins. Canopy management practices are applied to control the source sink balance and improve the cluster microclimate to enhance berry composition. We hyphothesized that an early leaf removal might promote a delayed ripening through severe defoliation after fruitset; whereas, a late leaf removal at mid-ripening would reduce sugar accumulation.