Orals – Viticulture, table grapes, dried grapes and unfermented grape products

to maintain viticulture under global warming conditions, it is important to carefully select the appropriate genotypes for each vine-growing region and develop cultivars that are drought resistant. this ability is highly dependent on hydraulic traits, which are dynamic and vary according to the vine's developmental stage and climatic conditions. this framework steadily enhances our understanding of the differences in drought resistance among vitis genotypes. however, there is still a need to comprehensively grasp the intra-specific variability, particularly between oenological and table grape cultivars.

Just over 150 years ago, phylloxera, daktulosphaera vitifoliae, was introduced to europe, and particularly france, from north america via imports of american vitis plants. This aphid, with its complex biology and life cycle, has spread rapidly to most vineyards, causing rapid and lethal decline of v. Vinifera vines due to the primary and secondary damage it causes to the roots. In response to this pest, and given the economic importance of the french wine sector, professional representatives organised into ‘agricultural societies’, scientists and public authorities rallied together to identify the exact causes, seek solutions and try to stem the serious socio-economic crisis that ensued.

Organic viticulture integrates practices aimed at foresting positive relationships among, vines, soil, and climate, with a focus on sustainability, social responsibility, and environmental protection. To safeguard production integrity, regulatory bodies worldwide conduct organic certifications in accordance with relevant regulations. Considering that agriculture practices influence the nitrogen, carbon and oxygen isotope composition, the study aimed to investigate the response of these isotopes in grape must cultivated by organic, biodynamic and conventional methods to distinguish between production systems.

The French vine selection partners network is currently made up of 40 regional partners, grouped around IFV (French Institute for Vine and Wine) and INRAE (national research institute for agriculture and environment), whose missions are preservation, selection, and innovation of our varietal diversity. The originality of this device is based on a 3-level organisation: - varietal diversity preservation, with the world reference: the INRAE’s vine genetics resources centre of Vassal-Montpellier (Marseillan, France), the world’s largest ampelographic collection, which includes nearly 6 000 accessions of cultivated Vitis vinifera from 54 countries, as well as rootstocks, interspecific hybrids, wild vines (lambrusques) and wild American and Asian species.

As greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, climate projections indicate an increased likelihood of heat waves and drier conditions in canada. these changes pose significant challenges to grapevine cultivation, particularly during critical growth stages such as new plantings. interspecific hybrid grape varieties, developed through different breeding programs that combine vitis vinifera with more robust species like v. riparia and v. labrusca varieties, are often touted for their potential resilience to environmental stress.

Rio grande do sul is the main grape producing state in Brazil, with the largest wine-growing area, responsible by 90% of the national production of wines and grape juices. Serra Gaúcha is the main vitivinicultural region, where around 15% of the area is destined to produce wines from vitis vinifera L. grapes. This region presents high rainfall during the grape maturation cycle, a factor that leads to great risk of attacks by fungal pathogens. the use of resistant varieties can reduce the cost and quantity of spraying, improving wine quality, focusing on a sustainable vitiviniculture.

To face emerging competition and challenges, wine producers globally rely on precision viticulture (PV) solutions to boost productivity, enhance quality, increase profitability, and reduce the environmental impact of vineyards. Current pv methods predominantly use multispectral sensor data from several platforms (satellites or vineyard installations). However, these applications generally use data analysis strategies lacking physiological grapevine support.

Grape breeding for resistance to fungal diseases is today very dynamic throughout the world notably in France. New varieties are obtained by hybridization between susceptible varieties of the vitis vinifera species and resistant genotypes, with breeding programs generally lasting between 15 and 25 years and resulting in the registration of a few new varieties. Though these varieties can provide several benefits and can be planted by winegrowers, they are not always systematically adopted.

In April 2024, the French official catalog includes 449 grape varieties and rootstocks. In 10 years it has been enriched with 70 varieties. It is an indisputable marker of the interest of professionals in genetic resources of all origins and the expectations they have to prepare the viticulture of the future. The scientific community has now put all irons in the fire and is not neglecting any avenue of adaptation. The regular decline in the use of phytosanitary products and the already marked effects of climate change are the targets of varietal improvement.

Can we cultivate grapevine without pesticides? This is a huge challenge for this emblematic crop, which is one of the largest users of plant protection products. Pesticides are mainly used to protect the vine against leaf diseases (powdery mildew, mildew, black-rot), even in organic farming, which uses copper in particular. What are the research avenues that can help eliminate pesticides today?