Stomatal behaviour of three minority grapevine varieties grown in the La Mancha region (Spain)

Given the impact of climate change on viticulture in the Region of Murcia, this paper attempts to expose the possibility of using genetic improvement as a dilemma that allows access to new descendant varieties of the autochthonous variety Monastrell crossed with varieties such as Syrah and Cabernet. Sauvignon, thus obtaining hybrids (Gebas and Myrtia). In it, the chromatic parameters and the phenolic profile of the new varieties will be compared with those obtained by the Monastrell variety at two moments during maturation (12 and 14 º Baumé), to check if the results would allow earlier harvests in these new varieties thus avoiding the decoupling between phenolic and technological maturity, while improving the quality of grapes and wines.

To meet the demand of assessment tool of vine growers and their advisers we adapted to the vine production the INDIGO® method to developed initially for arable farming.

The elemental composition (the ionome) of grape leaves is an important indicator of nutritional
health, but its genetic architecture has received limited scientific attention. In this study, we
analyzed the leaf ionome of 131 interspecific F1 hybrid progeny from a Vitis rupestris (♀) X Vitis
riparia (♂) cross. The progeny were replicated in New York, South Dakota, Southwest Missouri ad Central Missouri, and the concentration of 20 elements were measured in their leaves at
three different phenological stages during the growing season. In leaves collected at the apical node at anthesis, elemental concentrations correlated in a consistent manner (p < 0.05) across all four geographic locations. In subsequent phenological stages, elemental ratios in the apical-node leaves remained consistent across the South Dakota and New York sites, but not across the Missouri sites. In leaves collected at the basal and middle nodes, correlations varied greatly across all locations.

There is an urgent need in viticulture to adopt alternative herbicide-free soil management strategies to mitigate climate change, increase biodiversity, reduce plant protection products and improve soil quality while minimizing detrimental effects on grapevine’s stress tolerance and fruit quality. To propose sustainable solutions, adapted to different pedoclimatic conditions in Switzerland, we developed a multidisciplinary 4-year project, started in 2020. Objectives of the project are to a) evaluate the impact of green covers (spontaneous flora, winter cover crop and permanent ground cover) on environmental and agronomic parameters and b) develop subsequently innovative strategies for different viticultural contexts of Switzerland. The project is divided into 3 phases: 1) diagnosis, 2) on-farm and 3) on-station experiments. Phase 1) consisted in an assessment of 30 commercial vineyards all over Switzerland, where growers already use different herbicide-free soil management strategies. The most promising practices identified in this exploratory phase will be replicated in commercial vineyards across Switzerland (“on-farm”) as well as in a classical randomized block design in an experimental plot (“on-station”). For phase 1), measurements consisted in evaluation of soil status (compaction, structure, roots development), soil microbial diversity (metagenomics), plant diversity and biomass, vine physiology (water stress, vigor, leaf nitrogen) and berry quality (acidity, sugar, available nitrogen). Interestingly, the permanent ground cover resulted in a higher Shannon index thus a higher biodiversity as compared to the other itineraries. The winter cover crop increased vine nitrogen and vigor while deteriorating soil quality, leaving the soil more exposed and compacted likely due to more frequent tillage. The spontaneous flora led to higher berry sugar accumulation, less nitrogen and higher malic acid concentration putatively due to a higher water retention of the flora in a particularly wet vintage. Phases 2) and 3) are required to confirm those tendencies, over the 3 next vintages and different climatic conditions.

La caractérisation des terroirs viticoles est traditionnellement basée sur des descripteurs de la géologie et de la pédologie des différents milieux rencontrés, couplées à des données climatiques