Climate change – variety change?

Abstract

In Franconia, the northern part of Bavaria in Germany, climate change, visible in earlier bud break, advanced flowering and earlier grape maturity, leads to a decrease of traditionally cultivated early ripening aromatic white wine varieties as Mueller-Thurgau (30 % of the wine growing area) and Bacchus (12 %). With the predicted rise of temperature in all European wine regions the conditions for white wine grape varieties will decline and the grapes themselves will lose a part of their aromatic and fruity expression. Variety change towards the cultivation of later ripening white wine varieties is a very expensive and long-term process, and must be accompanied by special marketing efforts.
In the “cool climate” region Franconia, adapted methods are required for the longer use of traditionally grown aromatic early ripening varieties. Studies about maturity management of the early ripening variety Mueller-Thurgau show first results. Cordon pruning compared with traditional spur pruned training system, leads in dependence of botrytis infection to a maturity delay of 4 up to 6 days. The new natural growth training system, also called “minimal pruning”, results in a maturity delay of 8 up to 12 days in the same varieties.
Later grape harvest times economize energy for must cooling and fermentation control. Lower night temperatures can better conserve the fresh and fruity flavours of these aromatic grapes. The consequences of maturity retardation effects on must and wine quality will be studied.

DOI:

Publication date: November 23, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2010

Type: Article

Authors

Arnold Schwab, Ulrike Maaß

Bavarian State Institute for Viticulture and Horticulture, An der Steige 15, D-97332 Veitshöchheim

Contact the author

Keywords

Climate change, Franconia, earlier harvest time, variety change, canopy management

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2010

Citation

Related articles…

Mapping terroirs at the reconnaissance level, by matching soil, geology, morphology, land cover and climate databases with viticultural and oenological results from experimental vineyards

This work was aimed at setting up a methodology to define and map the «Unités Terroir de Reconnaissance» (UTR), combining environmental information stored in a Soil Information System with experimental data coming from benchmark vineyards of Sangiovese vine.

Determination of quality related polyphenols in chilean wines by absorbance-transmission and fluorescence excitation emission matrix (a-teem) analyses

Phenolic composition is essential to wine quality (Cleary et al., 2015; Bindon et al., 2020; Niimi et al., 2020) and its assessment is a strong industrial need to quality management.

Effects of different organic amendments on soil, vine, grape and wine, in a long-term field experiment in Chinon vineyard (France)

In a long-term experiment carried out in Chinon vineyard (37, France) during 23 years, the effects of several organic amendments were studied on soil, vine, grapes and wine. Four main treatments were compared on a calcareous sandy soil: control without organic amendment, dry crushed pruning wood at 2.1.t-1.ha-1.year-1 (D1), cow manure at 10 t-1. ha-1.year-1 (D1) and cow manure applied at 20 t-1.ha-1.year-1 (D2). D1 levels were calculated to fill the annual humus losses by mineralization.

Application of satellite-derived vegetation indices for frost damage detection in grapevines

Wine grape production is increasingly vulnerable to freeze damage due to warming climates, milder winters, and unpredictable late spring frosts. Traditional methods for assessing frost damage in grapevines which combine fieldwork and meteorological data, are expensive, time-consuming, and labor-intensive. Remote sensing could offer a rapid, inexpensive way to detect frost damage at a regional scale. Remote sensing approaches were used to assess freeze damage in grapevines by evaluating satellite-derived vegetation indices (VIs) to understand the severity and spatial distribution of damage in several New York vineyards immediately after a frost event (May 17th-18th, 2023). PlanetScope 3m satellite images acquired before and after the freeze were used to map damage and measure changes in VIs for vineyards in the Finger Lakes region.

Evapotranspiración de viñedo en secano y evaporación de barbecho en “La Mancha”

Un 94 % del viñedo español se cultiva con métodos y técnicas propias de los sistemas agrícolas desarrollados en secano en regiones de clima semiárido, donde las precipitaciones anuales raramente exceden los 500 mm