Climate change impact study based on grapevine phenology modelling

Deciphering grapevine dormancy is crucial in the current context of climatic challenges: advancing budburst phenology and increased late frost probabilities, observed in the last decades and expected to further increase, require deeper understanding. Beyond higher mean temperatures, abiotic stresses such as water deficit have also been emphasized as actors. In this framework, we aimed at exploring new methodologies for tracking dormancy cycle and testing the interplay on its regulation of temperature dynamics and drought.
In a first experiment, twenty-one Vitis vinifera varieties were monitored during ecodormancy and budburst over three years.

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

Wine vinegars have a tangy flavor and are versatile in cooking. They’ve been used since the neolithic period and are now used as microbial inhibitors and acidifiers. They’re low in calories, have antioxidants, and have a long shelf life, but quality may decrease after opening. The objective of this study focuses on the physical-chemical, sensory, and emotional characterization of wine vinegar samples from the douro demarcated region and la rioja. In total, 22 samples of wine vinegar were analyzed at the time of opening.

All along the red winemaking process, many microorganisms develop in wine, some being beneficial and essential, others being feared spoilers. One of the most feared microbial enemy of wine all around the world is Brettanomyces bruxellensis. Indeed, in red wines, this yeast produces volatile phenols, molecules associated with a flavor described as “horse sweat”, “burnt plastic” or “leather”. To produce significant and detectable concentrations of these undesired molecules, the yeasts should first grow and become numerous enough. Even if the genetic group of the strain present and the cellar temperature may modulate the yeast growth rate¹ and thus the risk of spoilage, the main factor seems to be the wines themselves, some being much more permissive to B. bruxellensis development than others.

Grapevine cultivars can be unequivocally typed by both physical differences (ampelography) and genetic tests. However due to their very similar characteristics, the identification of clones within a cultivar relies on the accurate tracing of supply records to the point of origin. Such records are not always available or reliable, particularly for older accessions. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) provides the most highly detailed methodology for defining grapevine cultivars and more importantly, this can be extended to differentiating clones within those cultivars.