Viticulture
30 July 2024
How to better estimate bunch number at field level?
In viticulture, early-season estimation of average number of grape bunches per vine is crucial for vineyard planning, investments and marketing (Laurent et al., 2021). Although sampling is widely carried out to estimate grape bunches ...
12 July 2024
Technological innovations in vineyard spraying: assessment of PWM technology and future prospects
The Institut Français de la Vigne et du Vin and INRAE have worked with the companies OPTIMA Concept and Berthoud to develop a high-precision digitally controlled sprayer that automatically adjusts the volume of spray delivered by each nozzle ...
27 June 2024
La Tour Carnet 2050: insights on phenology and yield of a very large collection of varieties
The introduction of new grape varieties to Bordeaux is one of the available levers to build up resilience to climate change. An ideal candidate for varietal diversification must fulfill different ...
6 May 2024
Detailing ripening phenological stages: discrepancies, usefulness and proposal
It is crucial to optimise the choice of picking date to get the most out of a harvest. Close monitoring of grape ripening dynamics and comparison with previous years and other vineyards/regions are necessary. Due to the climate challenge, high ...
19 April 2024
Chitosans and grapevine trunk diseases: surprising results from laboratory and vineyard studies
The potential of chitosans to control grapevine trunk diseases (GTDs) has been studied in a public-private partnership. In vitro tests, vineyard efficacy trials and laboratory analyses were carried out to understand their mode of ...
8 March 2024
Australia’s viticultural trends: Insights from a new database
This article summarizes and updates an article originally published as Anderson and Puga (2023a). The aim of this note is to summarise key insights from a recently compiled and updated annual database on Australia’s winegrape and wine ...
9 February 2024
Part 1. Evaluation of the overall performance of winegrowing systems in the Bordeaux region and of agroecological transition scenarios (Background and Methodology)
The agroecological transition is an essential issue for vineyards, given the high pressure surrounding the use of pesticides to protect the crop. Major changes are required in winegrowing systems in order to achieve sharp reductions in the use ...
9 February 2024
Part 2. Evaluation of the overall performance of winegrowing systems in the Bordeaux region and of agroecological transition scenarios (Results and Discussion)
The agroecological transition is an essential issue for vineyards, given the high pressure surrounding the use of pesticides to protect the crop. Major changes are required in winegrowing systems in order to achieve sharp reductions in the use ...
10 November 2023
Copper ecotoxicity in French vineyard soils
How toxic is copper contamination of vineyard soils to the ecosystem? That is the thorny question this paper seeks to answer. Based on studies describing Cu toxicity in plants, it points out that Cu contamination of vineyard soils is generally ...
24 October 2023
Mechanisation of pre-flowering leaf removal under temperate climate conditions
Grapevine leaf removal (LR) in the cluster area is a common practice in temperate and cool climates, usually done between berry-set and cluster closure to create a less favourable microclimate for fungal diseases and to improve grape ripening. ...
5 October 2023
High eugenol content of Armagnac hybrid variety Baco Blanc, an asset in combating Botrytis cinerea
Baco Blanc is the grape variety specific to the wine spirit Armagnac. A hybrid vine with good tolerance, particularly to Botrytis cinerea, its berries have an atypical chemical composition. Specifically, they have a high concentration ...
25 September 2023
Mortality and vigour based indicators for an early diagnosis of vineyard decline
Similar to the forestry industry, the winegrowing sector has experienced a grapevine decline phenomenon over the last twenty years, so that decline is now considered an increasingly widespread problem in many vineyards across the world (De la ...
8 September 2023
Carbon isotope discrimination (so-called δ13C) measured on grape juice is an accessible tool to monitor vine water status in production conditions
Assessment of vine water status is needed to understand the effect of environmental factors and management practices on dry-farmed and irrigated vineyards. Among plant-based indicators, carbon isotope discrimination (δ13C) is easily ...
25 August 2023
Temperature variation linked to trellis height: an opportunity for adaptation to climate change?
Temperature is a key factor in vine growth and grape composition (Jones, 2006). Climate change is already having an impact on these parameters in many wine regions, and it is becoming necessary to adapt in order to continue producing quality ...
20 June 2023
Nitrogen nutrition status of the vine: correlation between N-tester and SPAD chlorophyll indices
Knowledge of the nitrogen nutrition status of the vine is essential for long-term management of its nutrition with the aim of producing high-quality grapes. Measurement of the chlorophyll index is a fast, non-destructive and relatively ...
14 June 2023
Regrafting and curettage of esca-affected vines: useful control techniques but difficult to implement
Grapevine trunk diseases affect 13 % of French vineyards and esca has become more prevalent in recent decades (Grosman & Doublet 2012). Fussler et al. (2008) reported that an average of 3.25 % of vines are affected by esca. ...
26 April 2023
Sustaining wine identity through intra-varietal diversification
To sustain local wine identity in uncertain climate outcomes, the study of intra-varietal diversity is important to reflect the adaptive potential of cultivated varieties. Findings highlight the strong phenotypic diversity of studied varieties ...
25 April 2023
Dynamics of grapevine fanleaf virus (GFLV) infection in the vineyard and study of the response of different rootstocks
Planting is a major step in the life of a vineyard. The choices made at this stage, including that of the plant material, commits the winegrower for several decades (Dewasme et al., 2022a). The rootstock, which forms part of the ...
25 April 2023
What’s new with rootstocks?
French research on rootstocks is based on two strategies: the creation of new rootstocks and the evaluation of existing rootstocks (GreffAdapt facility). The search for traits associated with drought tolerance has not yet been brought to a ...
25 April 2023
Regional mapping of vine water status based on collaborative observations
Monitoring vine water status at the regional level is a major issue (Willwerth and Reynolds, 2020), and yet there are few appropriate tools available on this scale (Rienth and Scholasch, 2019). Collaborative collection of ...
25 April 2023
One or the other: under drought, grapevines do not express esca leaf symptoms
Global viticulture has seen decreases in fruit yield and vine longevity over the past two decades. Our understanding of the underlying causes is limited by the complex interactions among the different factors involved and the technical ...
25 April 2023
Uncertain changes to spring frost risks in vineyards in the 21st century
With milder winters, earlier budburst could lead to increased frost damage in the 21st century, despite global warming. However, the projection of future frost risk is currently subject to uncertainty. We look ...
25 April 2023
Aromatic ripeness may be the type of maturity that impacts red wine typicity the most. Part I: the aromas involved in aromatic ripeness
Harvesting grapes at the appropriate maturity is key to the production of high quality red wines. Viticulturists, oenologists and winemakers define several types of maturity: technological, phenolic and aromatic. Aromatic maturity is probably ...
25 April 2023
Aromatic ripeness may be the type of maturity that impacts red wine typicity the most. Part II: terroir factors and management practices affecting aromatic ripeness
Harvesting grapes at the appropriate maturity is key to the production of high quality red wines. Viticulturists, oenologists and winemakers define several types of maturity: technological, phenolic and aromatic. Aromatic ...
12 April 2023
Healthy Rootstock Cuttings are Essential for the International Nursery Industry
Rootstock cuttings infected with latent Grapevine Trunk Diseases (GTD’s) pathogens are a major problem for nurseries. These fungal pathogens include several species of the genera Phaeoacremonium, Phaeomoniella, Cadophora, Dactylonectria, ...