Effects of different organic amendments on soil, vine, grape and wine, in a long-term field experiment in Chinon vineyard (France)

Throughout centuries of anthropocentric breeding, plants have been selectively bred to enhance their quality traits and yield, often overlooking the importance of neglected attributes, like those involved in the interactions with beneficial microorganisms. This phenomenon led to an alteration in the distribution of photosynthetic products, shifting from defence mechanisms to growth, commonly described as ‘domestication syndrome’. Addressing the losses stemming from this condition is imperative just as unravelling the concealed communication between grapevines and beneficial microorganisms.

The challenges of the century for viticulture relate to coping with climate change and the loss of biodiversity in a downturning socio-economic context. Now more than ever, the vine and wine industry needs to be resilient to maintain and ensure a future for its heritage. An innovation of capital importance, in line with recently published research, deals with developing new methods of training our inherited and newly planted vineyards to better withstand environmental variations such as drought and heatwaves but also unevenly distributed rains and temperatures.

Red wine ageing impacts its chemical and sensory characteristics such as colour, astringency and aromas evolution. Wine ageing involves many chemicals and physico-chemical reactions. Oxygen has an important role in these evolutions, especially during bottle ageing. It is known that wine composition and its antioxidant capacity are correlated to its ability to undergo with oxygen exposure [1]. A high oxygen exposure can affect wine quality by the formation of undesirable oxidative volatile compounds such as acetaldehyde [2]. Thus, ageing capacity is an important factor for wine quality and is related to extent of oxidation with ageing [3].

Irrigation initiation timing is a critical annual management decision that has cascading effects on grapevine productivity and wine quality.

Vine water status was measured on 96 plots of three vines inside a vineyard block of 0.28 ha during three years: 2003, 2004 and 2005. Three physiological indicators were implemented: stem water potential, carbon isotope discrimination measured on grape sugars at ripeness (δ13C) and canopy temperature measured by high resolution remote sensing. For stem water potential, measurements were taken on every single vine of each plot.