Macrowine 2021
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Macrowine 9 Macrowine 2021 9 Grapevine diversity and viticultural practices for sustainable grape growing 9 Application to grapevine leaves of different doses of urea at two phenology stage: effect on the aromatic composition of red wine

Application to grapevine leaves of different doses of urea at two phenology stage: effect on the aromatic composition of red wine

Abstract

AIM: This research aimed to study the effect and efficiency of foliar application of urea on the aromatic composition of red wines elaborated from Tempranillo grapes.

METHODS: This study was carried out in 2018 and 2019. The plot was located in the North of Spain. The grapes were Vitis vinifera L. Tempranillo and grafted on 110 Richter rootstocks. The vine-training system was gobelet and leave twelve buds per vine. The plot was not fertilized and not irrigated, during the two study seasons. The treatments were: control (C), whose plants were sprayed with water; and three different doses of urea: plants were sprayed with 3 kg N/ha (U3), 6 kg N/ha (U6) and 9 kg N/ha (U9). The treatments were performed at two different phenological states, pre-veraison (Pre) and veraison (Ver). Also, each treatment was repeated one week later. The applications were carried out early in the morning to maximize the absorption of urea. Treatments were organized in a complete randomised block design and were performed in triplicate. The grapes were picked at optimum maturity and then, were destemmed and crushed. Each treatment was fermented on stainless steel tanks. The alcoholic fermentation was started by inoculating with commercial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain Uvaferm VRB and the malolactic fermentation was inoculated with commercial Oenococcus oeni strain Lalvin SILKA. After malolactic fermentation, the aliquots of each wine were frozen to determine their volatile composition. Analysis of volatile compounds from the wine was carried out by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) [1]. Quantification of compounds was performed with an internal standard method. Finally, the results were studied statistically by analysis of variance (ANOVA).

RESULTS: In the two seasons, the higher alcohols were the most abundant fermentative compounds found in wines, highlighting isoamyl alcohols and 2-phenylethanol. In 2018, the content of all volatile compounds was increased by the treatment U3-Pre. Nevertheless, the treatments carried out in veraison had different effects. The acetate esters and the sum of ethyl hexanoate, octanoate and decanoate were increased by U9 treatment. Also, U6 increased the concentration of total ethyl esters, total esters, and other volatile compounds. However, the higher alcohols were lower in the all treated wines. In 2019, the wines elaborated from grapes treated with U3-Pre presented a higher concentration of aromatic compounds. Moreover, U3-Ver improved the content of alcohols, acetate esters, the sum of ethyl hexanoate, octanoate and decanoate, and total esters; while, the other volatile compounds were risen by U9-Ver.

CONCLUSIONS

In the two seasons, the lowest dose of urea (U3) applied in pre-veraison improved the aromatic composition of Tempranillo wine.

DOI:

Publication date: September 2, 2021

Issue: Macrowine 2021

Type: Article

Authors

Rebeca Murillo-Peña

Institute of Grapevine and Wine Sciences (Spanish National Research Council, Government of La Rioja, University of La Rioja) ,Teresa, GARDE-CERDÁN, Institute of Grapevine and Wine Sciences (Spanish National Research Council, Government of La Rioja, University of La Rioja)  José María, MARTÍNEZ-VIDAURRE, Institute of Grapevine and Wine Sciences (Spanish National Research Council, Government of La Rioja, University of La Rioja)

Contact the author

Keywords

pre-veraison, veraison, tempranillo, volatile compounds, wine, urea, foliar application

Citation

Related articles…

Comparison of imputation methods in long and varied phenological series. Application to the Conegliano dataset, including observations from 1964 over 400 grape varieties

A large varietal collection including over 1700 varieties was maintained in Conegliano, ITA, since the 1950s. Phenological data on a subset of 400 grape varieties including wine grapes, table grapes, and raisins were acquired at bud break, flowering, veraison, and ripening since 1964. Despite the efforts in maintaining and acquiring data over such an extensive collection, the data set has varying degrees of missing cases depending on the variety and the year. This is ubiquitous in phenology datasets with significant size and length. In this work, we evaluated four state-of-the-art methods to estimate missing values in this phenological series: k-Nearest Neighbour (kNN), Multivariate Imputation by Chained Equations (mice), MissForest, and Bidirectional Recurrent Imputation for Time Series (BRITS). For each phenological stage, we evaluated the performance of the methods in two ways. 1) On the full dataset, we randomly hold-out 10% of the true values for use as a test set and repeated the process 1000 times (Monte Carlo cross-validation). 2) On a reduced and almost complete subset of varieties, we varied the percentage of missing values from 10% to 70% by random deletion. In all cases, we evaluated the performance on the original values using normalized root mean squared error. For the full dataset we also obtained performance statistics by variety and by year. MissForest provided average errors of 17% (3 days) at budbreak, 14% (4 days) at flowering, 14.5% (7 days) at veraison, and 17% (3 days) at maturity. We completed the imputations of the Conegliano dataset, one of the world’s most extensive and varied phenological time series and a steppingstone for future climate change studies in grapes. The dataset is now ready for further analysis, and a rigorous evaluation of imputation errors is included.

A blueprint for managing vine physiological balance at different spatial and temporal scales in Champagne

In Champagne, the vine adaptation to different climatic and technical changes during these last 20 years can be seen through physiological balance disruptions. These disruptions emphasize the general grapevine decline. Since the 2000s, among other nitrogen stress indicators, the must nitrogen has been decreasing. The combination of restricted mineral fertilizers and herbicide use, the growing variability of spring rainfall, the increasing thermal stress as well as the soil type heterogeneity are only a few underlying factors that trigger loss of physiological balance in the vineyards. It is important to weigh and quantify the impact of these factors on the vine. In order to do so, the Comité Champagne uses two key-tools: networking and modelization. The use of quantitative and harmonized ecophysiological indicators is necessary, especially in large spatial scales such as the Champagne appellation. A working group with different professional structures of Champagne has been launched by the Comité Champagne in order to create a common ecophysiology protocol and thus monitor the vine physiology, yearly, around 100 plots, with various cultural practices and types of soil. The use of crop modelling to follow the vine physiological balance within different pedoclimatic conditions enables to understand the present balance but also predict the possible disruptions to come in future climatic scenarios. The physiological references created each year through the working group, benefit the calibration of the STICS model used in Champagne. In return, the model delivers ecophysiology indicators, on a daily scale and can be used on very different types of soils. This study will present the bottom-up method used to give accurate information on the impacts of soil, climate and cultural practices on vine physiology.

Influence of weather and climatic conditions on the viticultural production in Croatia

The research includes an analysis of the impact of weather conditions on phenological development of the vine and grape quality, through monitoring of four experimental cultivars (Chardonnay, Graševina, Merlot and Plavac mali) over two production years. In each experimental vineyard, which were evenly distributed throughout the regions of Slavonia and The Croatian Danube, Croatian Uplands,

Characterization of variety-specific changes in bulk stomatal conductance in response to changes in atmospheric demand and drought stress

In wine growing regions around the world, climate change has the potential to affect vine transpiration and overall vineyard water use due to related changes in atmospheric demand and soil water deficits. Grapevines control their transpiration in response to a changing environment by regulating conductance of water through the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. Most vineyard water use models currently estimate vine transpiration by applying generic crop coefficients to estimates of reference evapotranspiration, but this does not account for changes in vine conductance associated with water stress, nor differences thought to exist between varieties. The response of bulk stomatal conductance to daily weather variability and seasonal drought stress was studied on Cabernet-Sauvignon, Merlot, Tempranillo, Ugni blanc, and Semillon vines in a non-irrigated vineyard in Bordeaux France. Whole vine sap flow, temperature and humidity in the vine canopy, and net radiation absorbed by the vine canopy were measured on 15-minute intervals from early July through mid-September 2020, together with periodic measurement of leaf area, canopy porosity, and predawn leaf water potential. From this data, bulk stomatal conductance was calculated on 15-minute intervals, and multiple regression analysis was performed to identify key variables and their relative effect on conductance. Attention was focused on addressing multicollinearity and time-dependency in the explanatory variables and developing regression models that were readily interpretable. Variability of vapor pressure deficit over the day, and predawn water potential over the season explained much of the variability in conductance, with relative differences in response coefficients observed across the five varieties. By characterizing this conductance response, the dynamics of vine transpiration can be better parameterized in vineyard water use modeling of current and future climate scenarios.

Modeling the suitability of Pinot Noir in Oregon’s Willamette Valley in a changing climate

Air temperature is the key driver of grapevine phenology and a significant environmental factor impacting yield and quality for a winegrape growing region. In this study the optimal downscaled CMIP5 ensemble for computing thegrowing season average temperature (GST) viticulture climate classification index was determined to spatially compute on a decadal basis predictions of the GST climate index and the grapevine sugar ripeness (GSR) model for Pinot Noir throughout the Willamette Valley (WV) American Viticultural Area (AVA). Forecasts for average temperature and a 220 g/L target sugar concentration level were computed using daily Localized Constructed Analogs (LOCA) downscaled CMIP5 historic and Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) future climate projections of minimum and maximum daily temperature. We explore spatiotemporal trends of the GST climate classification index and Pinot Noir specific applications of the GSR phenology model for the WV AVA. Spatiotemporal computations of the GST climate index and Pinot Noir specific applications of the GSR model enable the opportunity to explore relationships between their computed values with one intent being to provide updated GST ranges that better align with current temperature-based modeling understanding of Pinot Noir grapevine phenology and the viticultural application of LOCA CMIP5 climate projections for the WV AVA. The Pinot Noir specific applications of the GSR model or the GST index with updated bounds indicate that the percent of the WV AVA area suitable for Pinot Noir production is currently at or near its peak value in the upper 80s to lower 90s of this century.