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…

Terroir and climate: the role of homoclime matching

Climate is an important component or determinant of terroir, especially at the regional level. One can define three levels of terroir. These are the macro– or regional scale, which applies over tens of kilometres of the landscape. The second level is the meso- scale, which applies over kilometres or hundreds of meters, at the individual vineyard scale.

Valorization of grapevine leaves: screening of polyphenol composition in 50 cultivars

Grapevine leaves are known to contain different polyphenols such as flavonols, catechins and stilbenes, which are known to act as main contributors for plant defense against pathogens (1). While the composition for some major cultivars has been studied, there is lack of systematic comparison about the content of these compounds in the wide ecodiversity of Vitis vinifera cv. Recent advances in Mass Spectrometry-based Metabolomics allow a wider and more sensitive description of these polyphenols, as instance of those present in leaves (2). Such information could help to better explain leaf traits regarding the development of the leaf or to the plant tolerance to a pathogen. Moreover, these compounds offer appealing applications for human health due to their antioxidant activities.

Influence of dipping pretreatments in drying of ‘Pedro Ximenez’ grapes in chamber at controlled temperature

The influence of dipping pretreatments on drying of ‘Pedro Ximenez’ grapes, destined to the elaboration of sweet wines, in chamber at controlled temperature, has been studied. Changes in color and phenolic composition of raisins produced were observed during the process of raisining.

A generic method to analyze vine water deficit continuously

In the context of global warming, water scarcity is becoming an increasing issue worldwide. However, the reference method to characterize vine water deficit is based on water potential measurement, which is a destructive and discontinuous method. The current climatic context emphasizes the need for more precise and more continuous vineyard water use measurements in order to optimize irrigation and vine water deficit monitoring.

The landscape of wine as an expression of cultural transversality

Il mondo del vino si è accorto che per la sua comprensione, valorizzazione e promozione è fondamentale conoscere le ragioni geologiche del vino, valutare il suo impatto sul paesaggio e acquisire il suo valore emozionale.