Climate, grapes, and wine: structure and suitability in a variable and changing climate

Abstract

Climate is a pervasive factor in the success of all agricultural systems, influencing whether a crop is suitable to a given region, largely controlling crop production and quality, and ultimately driving economic sustainability. Climate’s influence on agribusiness is never more evident than with viticulture and wine production where climate is arguably the most critical aspect in ripening fruit to optimum characteristics to produce a given wine style. Any assessment of climate for wine production must examine a multitude of factors that operate over many temporal and spatial scales. Namely climate influences must be considered at the macroscale (synoptic climate) to the mesoscale (regional climate) to the toposcale (site climate) to the microscale (vine row and canopy climate). In addition, climate influences come from both broad structural conditions and singular weather events manifested through many temperature, precipitation, and moisture parameters. To understand climate’s role in growing winegrapes and wine production one must consider 1) the weather and climate structure necessary for optimum quality and production characteristics, 2) the climate suitability to different winegrape cultivars, 3) the climate’s variability in wine producing regions, and 4) the influence of climate change on the structure, suitability, and variability of climate.

DOI:

Publication date: December 3, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2010

Type: Article

Authors

G.V. Jones

Department of Environmental Studies
Southern Oregon University
1250 Siskiyou Blvd
Ashland, Oregon

Contact the author

Keywords

Climate, grapes, wine, temperature, climate change, climate variability

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2010

Citation

Related articles…

HYDROXYTYROSOL PRODUCTION BY DIFFERENT YEAST STRAINS: SACCHAROMYCES AND NON-SACCHAROMYCES AND THE RELATION WITH THE NITROGEN CONSUMPTION

Hydroxytyrosol (HT) is a phenolic compound with extensive bioactive properties. It is present in olives, olive oil and wines. Its occurrence in wines is partly due to yeast synthetise tyrosol from tyrosine by the Ehrlich pathway, which is subsequently hydroxylated to .
The aim of the present work is to study how different yeast strains can influence in the HT production and, how the different nitrogen consumption of each strain can interfere the production of bioactive compounds.

Exploring the mechanisms underpinning grapevine susceptibility to esca in a range of Vitis vinifera L. cultivars

Grapevine susceptibility to fungal diseases, including the vascular disease esca, is a major threat for wine productivity and vineyard perennity worldwide.

Combined high-resolution chromatography techniques and sensory analysis as a support decision system tool for the oenologist

One of the main challenges in the wine industry is to understand how different wine processing techniques and practices can influence the overall quality of the final product.

Relations between soil characteristics and must and wine composition in different terroirs of Emilia Romagna (Italy)

The under-way zoning works of the Emilia viticulture have pointed out a huge variability of the features of the soils, which belong to this area.

Plastic cover film on table grapes from field to cold storage

Plastic film covering is a technique largely used in viticulture to protect table grapes vines from adverse weather conditions and to reduce the negative effects of grapevine fungi disease. Plastic film composition affects solar radiation income inside the covering with effects on sunlight wavelengths in relation to different absorbance and reflectance. The interaction of selected light ranges with vines could influence grape ripening and yield and consequently influence shelf life.