Economic losses due to cold weather events are a major constraint to the expansion of premium but cold sensitive winegrape cultivars in cold regions of the United States. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a foliar application of abscisic acid (ABA) could increase the freezing tolerance (FT) of field-grown, Vitis vinifera « Pinot gris » grapevines, and whether the effectiveness of ABA treatments can be influenced by the phenological timing of the application. Mature, « Pinot gris » grapevines were treated with a foliar application of ABA at a concentration of 0 mg·L-1 (control), or 400 mg·L-1 at vine phenological stages corresponding to véraison, post-véraison, and post-harvest.

Yield and wine quality nexus has been investigated on 11 vine plots of cvs Grenache N and Syrah over 3 years in the Mediterranean region, in order to assess the impact of yield increase from 0.5-2 kg/m² i.e. 2 to 8 t/acre, on grape and wine quality for premium wine. Yield variation has been obtained by manipulating bud load per vine during winter pruning.

Basal leaf removal is a widespread cultural practice that alters the microclimate of the fruit zone as well as the source-sink balance of a vine. Severe defoliation may result in vine devigoration via reduced photosynthetic capacity and could be beneficial for vigorous canopies to reduce the concentrations of methoxypyrazines (MPs), a class of volatile compounds that contribute to green aromas, in the fruit.

Aiming to obtain empirical models for the estimation of Syrah leaf area a set of 210 fruiting shoots was randomly collected during the 2013 growing season in an adult experimental vineyard, located in Lisbon, Portugal. Samples of 30 fruiting shoots were taken periodically from the stage of inflorescences visible to veraison (7 sampling dates).

A study was undertaken to quantify the importance of carbon and nitrogen reserves for sustained optimal growth and production of Sauvignon blanc grapes. The three-year replicated treatments consisted of two pruning treatments of four (48N) and six (72N) 12- node cane VSP-trained vines in Marlborough, New Zealand. Samples of root and trunk tissues were taken throughout the seasons for carbohydrate (CHO) and nitrogen (N) analyses, along with the collection of annual pruning and yield measurements.

A number of cultural techniques have been proposed in order to delay wine grape ripening in the face of global warming. This study is aimed at evaluating the effects of trimming on delaying berry ripening as well as at the determination of the optimal moment and intensity to realize this cultural practice.

Arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) fungi are very important for life of plant communities and also a predominant factor in sustainable agro-ecosystems like viticulture. Grapevine is a facultativ mycotroph host of various AM fungi. Although many studies have examined the role of AM fungi in water relations and photosynthetic performance of different host plants, there is no such information in the case of mycorrhiza inoculated grapevine.

The collection of training systems on Syrah of the Montpellier SupAgro campus has allowed to validate the interest of the Minimal Pruning for producing at high yield and low cost wines for basic and medium standard wines, and of the Lyre for producing economically high standard level wines.

In recent years, the total N content in the leaves has been estimated through the use of non-destructive spectral methods, among them the N-tester and the SPAD-502. The SPAD-502 (Minolta) is an instrument for rapid detection of chlorophyll content and N concentration in plant leaves, which is widely used in N nutrition diagnosis in annual crops.

The main aim of this work was to ascertain the effects of training systems on the fruit basic winemaking qualities, and then to further provide the guidance for the production of high-quality wine grapes. ‘Cabernet-Sauvignon’ grape berries from vines trained to M-VSP, F-TT, and F-MT were sampled at commercial harvest for analysis in two consecutive years (2011 and 2012).

The adaptation of viticultural management systems is important in order to reply adequately to weather-related changes affecting the vineyards microclimate. Therefore, this study was examined to validate non-destructive methods to determine the response of leaf and berry compounds.

This study investigated the effects of leaf thinning on potassium levels in petiole and different grape tissues during ripening in two red varieties: Shiraz (SH) and Cabernet Sauvignon (CS), cultivated in the Costers de Segre Designation of Origin (NE, Spain). Petiole and grape berries were collected from early veraison to harvest in two plots with differences in vigor, in which leaf thinning was partially applied.

This study investigated the uptake and distribution in grape tissues of the micronutrients copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and manganese (Mn), in a 16 year-old ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’ vineyard and their relationship with wine nutrient content. The analysis was carried out in two plots with differences in vigor, grown in a calcareous soil.

Lobesia botrana is a microlepidoptera moth a common pest in European vineyards. Larvaes cause damages both by eating plant reproductive organs and indirectly by promoting the infection of grape berries by saprophytic pathogens. Since 1999, the Banyuls and Albères Agricultural Development Group (GDA) keeps track of infestations by L. botrana on control plots.

Albariño is the most important grape variety in the Rías Baixas Appellation (Galicia, Spain), and the quality of its wines is worldwide renowned. The training system most commonly used for growing Albariño is the overhead trellis, also called “parral” in Spanish.

Airén is the most worldwide spread white grape cultivar, high yielding, well adapted to hot, dry conditions, and not very sensitive to fungal diseases. Its largest growing region is La Mancha, where Airén has been traditionally bush trained, spur pruned and grown with no irrigation.

Cluster weight is one of the yield components that most influences the production. The relationship between productive level and grape quality is one of the main topics of discussion among the agents of the wine sector. To provide database to study this topic a trial was carried out during the years 2012, 2013 and 2014, analyzing the characteristics of two types of clusters: large (> 300 g weight) and small (< 200 g weight).

The global productivity of a vineyard is conditioned by the development of leaf area. The shoot density and the spatial distribution of leaf area influence the porosity of the canopy and the production of dry matter. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of the shoot density in the production of biomass in renewable parts and in the canopy microclimate, in both positioned and non-positioned training systems.

Pinot gris, Riesling, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon from a vineyard in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario (Canada) were subjected to two crop level treatments (full crop, half crop) combined with three harvest dates [commercial harvest (T0), 3 wk after T0 (T1), 6 wk after T0 (T2)] in 2011-2012 in a randomized experiment.

The aromas found in young red wines of Merlot and Cabernet sauvignon (found in the Bordeaux region) suggest a complex mixture of odours of fresh red fruits such as cherry or blackberry for Merlot, and strawberry or blackcurrant for Cabernet sauvignon. The aromas of these wines are strongly linked with the maturity of the grapes.