Insights into the stable isotope ratio variability of hybrid grape varieties

Aim: Interactions between soil, climate and management that modulate vine growth, yield and grape composition are strongly defined by vine water availability and nutrient uptake during the season. Carbon isotope discrimination (δ13C) has been used as an integrative measurement of vine water availability during the season, with the potential to identify spatial variations of terroir in

L’Oltrepò Pavese est une zone de collines de la Lombardie, région située au nord de l’Italie avec un vignoble qui s’étend sur près de 15 000 ha. Cette zone représente la plus grande aire de production de la région et une des A.O.C. les plus étendues de tout le pays. Les cépages les plus cultivés, même historiquement, sont autochtones : la Barbera et la Croatina utilisés pour la production de vin rouge «Oltrepò» et le Pinot noir pour la production de vins mousseux. Pour le zonage viticole de cette A.O.C., il a été pris en considération: le climat, les sols, les caractéristiques viti-vinicoles.

The use of rootstock of American origin has been the classic method of fighting against Phylloxera for more than 100 years. For this reason, it is interesting to establish if different rootstock modifies nutrient composition as well as trace elements content that could be important for determining the traceability of the vine products. A survey of four classic rootstocks (110-Richter, SO4, FERCAL and 1103-Paulsen) and four new ones (M1, M2, M3 and M4) provided by Agromillora Iberia. S.L.U., all of them grafted with the Tempranillo variety, has been carried out during 2019. The eight rootstocks were planted in pots of 500 cc, on three soils with very different characteristics from Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). In the month of July, the leaves were collected and dried in a forced air oven for seven days at 40ºC. Then, the samples were prepared for the analysis determination, carried out by X-Ray fluorescence spectrometry. The results obtained showed that in the case of content in mineral elements in leaf, separated by soil type, we can report the importance of few elements such as Si, Fe, Pb and, especially, Sr. The rootstock does not influence the composition of the vine leaf for the studied elements that are the most important in determining the geochemical footprint of the soil. The influence of the soil can be discriminated according to some elements such as Fe, Pb, Si and, especially, Sr.

Vineyard water availability is one of the most important variables both in plant’s production and wine quality, once it regulates several processes, among which the stomata activity. To avoid water deficit, wine producers introduced artificial irrigation in their vineyard, using a semi-empirical process to calculate water amount.

In this video recording of the IVES science meeting 2025, Alena Wilson (University of Torino, Alba, Torino, Italy) speaks about techniques for managing grapevines during periods of extreme heat. This presentation is based on an original article accessible for free on OENO One.