Terroir 2010 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Effects of post-veraison irrigation dose on Cabernet-Sauvignon vines in a dry and warm season in Valencia, Spain

Effects of post-veraison irrigation dose on Cabernet-Sauvignon vines in a dry and warm season in Valencia, Spain

Abstract

In the old-world viticulture, there is a common but most often not scientifically proved consideration that supplemental irrigation should detrimentally affect berry and wine composition. In the semi-arid and warm climate of in-land Valencia we tested the hypothesis that deficit irrigation might, not only improve yield, but also fruit composition. The experiment was performed with Cabernet Sauvignon vines at the Celler del Roure SL vineyard, located in the D.O. Valencia. Rainfed vines were compared with three different post-veraison irrigation regimes with water application at either 10, 20, or 30% of reference evapotranspiration, resulting in water application of 26, 34 and 57, mm respectively. The experimental design was a randomised block with three replicates per treatment and 308 experimental vines per experimental plot. The experiment was conducted in the very dry and warm 2009 season, with substantial no rainfall from august up to harvest and average temperature during ripening of 24ºC. Rain-fed vines experienced quite severe plant water stress with an average midday stem water potential of -1.45 MPa. Supplemental irrigation improved plant water status and increased yield in proportion to the amount of water applied mostly because irrigation avoided berry and whole clusters dehydration that occurred in the rainfed vines during ripening. The most important effect of irrigation was to avoid the excessive increase in berry sugar content that, at the right phenolic ripening time, reached in the rainfed treatment up to 16.5º of probable alcohol. Irrigation did not affect must acidity and improved berry quality determined with a berry tasting panel. In addition the supplemental irrigation did not decrease total berry phenolic and anthocyanin potential. On the other hand irrigation slightly decreased the extractable values. This suggests that different maceration procedures should be applied depending on grape origin. Under very dry and warm seasons, irrigation can be used to mitigate the negative effect of low plant water status on berry dehydration and unbalanced ripening.

DOI:

Publication date: December 3, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2010

Type: Article

Authors

I. Gómez (1), J. Ortega (2), I. Álvarez (3), M.J. García-Esparza (3), D. S. Intrigliolo (4)

(1) Tresge Wine Consulting S.L., Ctra. Malilla 25-20, 46026 Valencia, Spain
(2) Celler del Roure SL. , Ctra. Les Alcusses, Km 2.5, 46640 Moixent, Valencia, Spain
(3) Universidad Politécnica de Valencia. Dept Tecnología de los Alimento, Camino de Vera s/n, Valencia, Spain
(4) Instituto Valenciano Investigaciones Agrarias. Centro Agricultura Sostenible. Apartado oficial 46113, Moncada, Valencia, Spain

Contact the author

Keywords

Deficit irrigation, phenolics, total soluble solids, yield

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2010

Citation

Related articles…

Indice bioclimatique de qualité Fregoni

La viticulture dans le monde est sous l’étroite dépendance des conditions climatiques. En effet, la culture de la vigne est concentrée entre 30° et 50° de latitude Nord et 30° à 40° de latitude Sud

Beyond colors of rosé wines: impact of origin and winemaking technology on their color, polyphenol and thiol compositions

Rosé wine consumption is rapidly increasing with its market share in France that has grown from 11 % to 32 % in less than 20 years. A recent trend is also to produce rosé wines with lighter colors. Varieties, terroir and technology certainly have an influence on rosé wine colors.

Unraveling vineyard site from vintage contributions: Elemental composition of site-specific Pinot noir wines across multiple vintages

Understanding vineyard site contribution to elemental composition of wines has, historically, been limited due to lack of continuity across multiple vintages, as well as lack of uniformity in scion clone and lack of controlled pilot-scale winemaking conditions.  We recently completed our fifth vintage, and have elemental composition characterizing wines from four vintages (2015–2018)

DNA and type of grain: which factor does better explain sensory differences of sessile and pedunculate oaks?

Sessile oak and pedunculate oak have shown several differences of interest for enological purposes. Tannic and aromatic composition among sessile oak or pedonculate oak has been well studied. Sessile oak is generally more aromatic than pedunculated, while the later is more tannic. This scientific point of view is rarely applied to classify oak in cooperages. Most coopers use the type of grain to distinguish wide and thin grain.

Characterization of variety-specific changes in bulk stomatal conductance in response to changes in atmospheric demand and drought stress

In wine growing regions around the world, climate change has the potential to affect vine transpiration and overall vineyard water use due to related changes in atmospheric demand and soil water deficits. Grapevines control their transpiration in response to a changing environment by regulating conductance of water through the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. Most vineyard water use models currently estimate vine transpiration by applying generic crop coefficients to estimates of reference evapotranspiration, but this does not account for changes in vine conductance associated with water stress, nor differences thought to exist between varieties. The response of bulk stomatal conductance to daily weather variability and seasonal drought stress was studied on Cabernet-Sauvignon, Merlot, Tempranillo, Ugni blanc, and Semillon vines in a non-irrigated vineyard in Bordeaux France. Whole vine sap flow, temperature and humidity in the vine canopy, and net radiation absorbed by the vine canopy were measured on 15-minute intervals from early July through mid-September 2020, together with periodic measurement of leaf area, canopy porosity, and predawn leaf water potential. From this data, bulk stomatal conductance was calculated on 15-minute intervals, and multiple regression analysis was performed to identify key variables and their relative effect on conductance. Attention was focused on addressing multicollinearity and time-dependency in the explanatory variables and developing regression models that were readily interpretable. Variability of vapor pressure deficit over the day, and predawn water potential over the season explained much of the variability in conductance, with relative differences in response coefficients observed across the five varieties. By characterizing this conductance response, the dynamics of vine transpiration can be better parameterized in vineyard water use modeling of current and future climate scenarios.