Great highlands wine growing terroir: conditions and expressions

The National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) in the United States Department of Agriculture safeguards numerous species. Grapevines are split in two locations: Davis, CA and Geneva, NY. The two germplasms maintain 43 Vitis species with over 4500 genetically unique accessions.

One of the most important effects of climate change in wine-growing areas is the advance of phenological stages, especially concerning early berry ripening. In the hottest seasons, this results in a lack of synchrony between sugar and phenolic ripeness. In order to cope with this fact, a general effort is being made by researchers and growers aiming at delaying ripening through different strategies. One of the proposed approaches is the application of elicitors. This study aims to assess the effect at the transcriptomic level of application of three elicitors (Vitalfit, Fruitel, and Protone) in Tempranillo.

The research carried out by the URVV of the INRA center in Angers aims to develop a methodology for the integrated characterization of the natural factors of viticultural terroirs, representative of the operating conditions of the vine and the sensory differences of the wines. In this context, the concept of Basic Terroir Unit (UTB) has been developed. The UTB represents a viticultural surface of variable geographical extension, defined as the association in a given place of a geological, pedological and landscape component, Morlat (1989), Riou et al. (1995).

Context and purpose of the study. Climate change scenarios predict ever increasing frequency of drought events and coupled with disease outbreaks poses survival risks to perennial fruit crops such as grapevine.

Viral diseases are a significant cause of both decreased grape quality and vineyard production. Important agents include grapevine leafroll-associated virus (glravs) and grapevine rupestris stem pitting-associated virus (grspav). However, conducting phytosanitary analysis of vineyards for viruses on-site is challenging, and molecular testing is generally expensive.