Retallack Viticulture EcoVineyards video

Monferrato is a sub region of Piedmont featuring an endless series of hills which have been moulded through the centuries by laborious farming. Vineyards have always been the protagonists of Monferrato landscape. Asti vineyards have been well-known since Roman times and Pliny the Elder mentions them.

Foreseeing climatic changes, the abnormally hot and dry year of 2005 can be revealer of some varieties behavior in different climatic conditions.

In the actual scenario of climate change, optimization of water usage is becoming critical in sustainable viticulture. Most of the current approaches to assess grapevine water status and drive irrigation scheduling are either destructive, time and labour consuming and monitor a small, limited number of plants. This work presents a novel methodology using a contactless, miniaturized, low-cost NIR spectrometer to monitor the vineyard water status variability from a moving vehicle, to provide reliable information towards precision irrigation.

Many vineyards implanted in Brazil in the last 20 years are placed under very different natural conditions if compared to Serra Gaúcha, the oldest and more traditional viticultural region in the country.

The markets for quality wine are becoming more competitive as newer producers emerge and traditional producers improve their quality. The concept of terroir is one way to differenzi­ate wines in a competitive market and to enhance producer income.