Terroir 2008 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Rootstocks of prestigious Bordeaux vineyards: implications on quality and yield

Rootstocks of prestigious Bordeaux vineyards: implications on quality and yield

Abstract

Rootstocks have been used in most of the vineyards for over a century. This may seem to be a long period, but it represents only three successive plantations. Moreover, during this period of time, production objectives have changed. This study shows the implications on quality and yield of rootstocks used in prestigious red-wine producing vineyards in the Bordeaux area. It has been carried out on 400 hectares localized in five main appellations of the Bordeaux vineyard. In total, 15 different rootstocks are used. A quality index is created by weighing the destination of grapes of each plot (first wine, second wine, third wine) by the economic valuation of each wine produced in these properties. First quality is rated 4, second quality 1.5 and third quality 0.
The first results show that two rootstocks, Riparia Gloire de Montpellier (RGM) and 420A, cover 67% of the planted area. Including 3309C, 101-14 MG and SO4, 94% of the total acreage is represented. The highest quality is produced with 420A, RGM and 3309C (average quality index > 2.5). The highest yields are obtained with 161-49C, 101-14 MG, 5BB, RGM and SO4. The quality of the production with RGM and 3309C increases year after year linearly. Surprisingly, the quality of the wine produced by plots grafted on SO4 decreases after 35 years. In terms of age class, SO4 gives the best results during the period 0-30 years, 3309C for the period 30-40 years and RGM in plots of over 40 years old. Yield decreases with age, but more rapidly for some rootstocks (SO4) than for others (RGM).
Some results confirm what is already widely admitted: RGM is a high quality potential root-stock and wine quality increases with vine age. Other results are more surprising: 101-14 MG appears as the most vigourous rootstock of the list and RGM as a dryness tolerant rootstock. These last two points need to be studied on a larger scale to confirm these results.

DOI:

Publication date: December 8, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2008

Type : Article

Authors

ROBY J.-P. (1), RENOUF V. (1,2), and VAN LEEUWEN C. (1)

(1) UMR Ecophysiologie et Génomique Fonctionnelle de la Vigne (EGFV)
Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin (ISVV)
ENITA de Bordeaux
1 Cours du Général de Gaulle
F-33175 Gradignan
(2) Laffort, BP 17, 33015 Bordeaux cedex 15, FRANCE

Contact the author

Keywords

Terroir, root-srock, quality, yield, Bordeaux

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2008

Citation

Related articles…

First step in the preparation of a soil map of the Protected Designation of Origin Valdepeñas (Central, Spain)

This work is a first step to make a map of vineyard soils. The characterization of the soils of the Protected Designation of Origin (D.P.O.) Valdepeñas will allow to group the studied profiles according to their physico-chemical characteristics and the concentrations of most relevant chemical elements. 90 soil profiles were analysed throughout the territory and the soils were sampled and described according to FAO (2006) and classified according to and Soil Taxonomy (2014). All samples were air dried, sieved and some physico-chemical parameters were determined following standard protocols. Also, major and trace elements were analysed by X-ray fluorescence. The statistically study was made using the SPSS program. Trend maps were made using the ArcGIS program. The studied soils have the following average properties: pH, 8.3; electrical conductivity, 0,20 dS/m (low); clay, 18.8% (medium) and CaCO3, 17.1% (high). In the study for the major elements. The major elements of these soils are Si, followed by Ca and Al, with an average content of 203.7 g/kg, 105.5 g/kg and 74.0 g/kg respectively. On the other hand, 27 trace elements have been studied. Of all of them, it can be highlighted the average values of Ba (361.8 mg/kg), Sr (129.3 mg/kg), Rb (83.4 mg/kg), V (74.2 mg/kg) and Ce (70.6 mg/kg). Ba, V and Ce values are higher and the values of Sr and Rb are lower to those found in the literature. The discriminant analysis shows a percentage of grouping of 91%. The content of chemical elements together with the physico-chemical characteristics allows grouping the soils in 4 group according to their order in the classification to Soil Taxonomy; due to the importance of the Calcisols in Castilla-La Mancha, it has been decided to establish them as their own group even if they do not appear in Soil Taxonomy classification.

Effects of organic mulches on the soil environment and yield of grapevine

Farming management practices aiming at conserving soil moisture have been developed in arid and semiarid-areas facing water scarcity problems. Organic mulching is an effective method to manipulate the crop-growing microclimate increasing crop yield by controlling soil temperature, and retaining soil moisture by reducing soil evaporation. In this sense, the effectiveness of different organic mulching materials (straw mulch and grapevine pruning debris) applied within the row of a vineyard was evaluated on the soil and on the vine in a Tempranillo vineyard located in La Rioja (Spain). Organic mulches were compared with a traditional bare soil management technique (based on the use of herbicides to avoid weed incidence). Mulching coverages favourably influenced the soil water retention throughout all the grapevine vegetative cycle. However, the soil-moisture variation was not the same under different mulching materials, being the straw mulch (SM) the one that retained more water in comparison with grapevine pruning debris (GPD) based-cover. The changes of soil moisture in the upper surface layer (0–10 cm) were highly dynamic, probably due to water vapour fluxes across the soil-atmospheric interface. However, both, SM and GPD reduced these fluctuations as compared with bare soils. A similar trend occurred with soil temperature. Both organic mulches altered soil temperature in comparison with bare soil by reducing soil temperature in summer and raising it in winter. Moreover, the same buffering effect for the temperature on the covered soil also remains in the deeper layers. To conclude, we could see that organic mulching had a positive impact on soil-moisture storage and soil temperature and the extent of this effect depends on the type of mulching materials. These changes led to higher rates of photosynthesis and stomatal conductivity compared to bare soils, also favouring crop growth and grape yields.

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.

Bioclimatic shifts and land use options for Viticulture in Portugal

Land use, plays a relevant role in the climatic system. It endows means for agriculture practices thus contributing to the food supply. Since climate and land are closely intertwined through multiple interface processes, climate change may lead to significant impacts in land use. In this study, 1-km observational gridded datasets are used to assess changes in the Köppen–Geiger and Worldwide Bioclimatic (WBCS)

Local adaptation tools to ensure the viticultural sustainability in a changing climate

[lwp_divi_breadcrumbs home_text="IVES" use_before_icon="on" before_icon="||divi||400" module_id="publication-ariane" _builder_version="4.19.4" _module_preset="default" module_text_align="center" module_font_size="16px" text_orientation="center"...