Climate variability and its effects in the Penedès vineyard region (NE Spain)

Context and purpose of the study. Climate change scenarios predict ever increasing frequency of drought events and coupled with disease outbreaks poses survival risks to perennial fruit crops such as grapevine.

Determining the age of a vineyard is essential for understanding its influence on wine quality and characteristics.

Aim: Downy mildew is a crucial disease in viticulture. In-field evaluation of downy mildew has been classically based on visual inspection of leaves and fruit. Nevertheless, non-invasive sensing technologies could be used for disease detection in grapevine. The aim of this study was to assess downy mildew severity in grapevine leaves using machine vision.

Nowadays, winemaking is dealing with great challenges, notably climate change, disease resistance and low pesticide inputs, desire for more sustainable agricultural productions and permanent changing of consumer preference.

Controlling the speed of alcoholic (AF) and malolactic (MLF) fermentations in wine can be an important challenge for the production of certain short rotation wines for entry-level market segments. Immobilization techniques for Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Œnococcus œni, the microorganisms responsible for these fermentations, are widely studied for industrial applications. Indeed, these processes allow to accumulate biomass and thus to increase cell densities inducing high fermentation velocities. Recent works have shown the performance of MLF carried out with biofilms of O. œni, immobilized on various supports in a rich medium (MRSm: modified MRS broth with malic acid and fructose).