Understanding Vineyard Soils

Author(s):  
Robert E. White

The first edition of Understanding Vineyard Soils has been praised for its comprehensive coverage of soil topics relevant to viticulture. However, the industry is dynamic--new developments are occurring, especially with respect to measuring soil variability, managing soil water, possible effects of climate change, rootstock breeding and selection, monitoring sustainability, and improving grape quality and the "typicity" of wines. All this is embodied in an increased focus on the terroir or "sense of place" of vineyard sites, with greater emphasis being placed on wine quality relative to quantity in an increasingly competitive world market. The promotion of organic and biodynamic practices has raised a general awareness of "soil health", which is often associated with a soil's biology, but which to be properly assessed must be focused on a soil's physical, chemical, and biological properties. This edition of White's influential book presents the latest updates on these and other developments in soil management in vineyards. With a minimum of scientific jargon, Understanding Vineyard Soils explains the interaction between soils on a variety of parent materials around the world and grapevine growth and wine typicity. The essential chemical and physical processes involving nutrients, water, oxygen and carbon dioxide, moderated by the activities of soil organisms, are discussed. Methods are proposed for alleviating adverse conditions such as soil acidity, sodicity, compaction, poor drainage, and salinity. The pros and cons of organic viticulture are debated, as are the possible effects of climate change. The author explains how sustainable wine production requires winegrowers to take care of the soil and minimize their impact on the environment. This book is a practical guide for winegrowers and the lay reader who is seeking general information about soils, but who may also wish to pursue in more depth the influence of different soil types on vine performance and wine character.

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 01011
Author(s):  
A. Nesbitt ◽  
S. Dorling ◽  
R. Jones

As cool climate viticulture rapidly expands, the England and Wales wine sector is winning international acclaim, particularly for its sparkling wines, and is attracting significant investment. Supported by warming climate trends during the growing season, wine producers are establishing new vineyards planted predominantly with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Grape-friendly weather conditions in 2018 led to a record harvest and may be a sign of good things to come. Long term (100-years) Growing Season Average Temperatures (GSTs) in south-east and south-central England have noticeably increased with 6 of the top 10 warmest growing seasons (April–October), over the last 100 years, occurring since 2005. However, weather and growing season conditions fluctuate markedly from year to year, meaning that yields and grape quality continue to vary significantly. Weather extremes are anticipated to become more frequent under future climate change, further threatening the stability of production. Current uncertainty over future climatic conditions during the growing season and their potential effects on viticulture in the UK exposes both existing producers and potential investors to unquantified risks and opportunities. The CREWS-UK climate resilience research project is generating actionable information on how climate change may affect the wine production sector, to support better decision-making and investment.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cornelis van Leeuwen ◽  
Philippe Darriet

AbstractClimate change is a major challenge in wine production. Temperatures are increasing worldwide, and most regions are exposed to water deficits more frequently. Higher temperatures trigger advanced phenology. This shifts the ripening phase to warmer periods in the summer, which will affect grape composition, in particular with respect to aroma compounds. Increased water stress reduces yields and modifies fruit composition. The frequency of extreme climatic events (hail, flooding) is likely to increase. Depending on the region and the amount of change, this may have positive or negative implications on wine quality. Adaptation strategies are needed to continue to produce high-quality wines and to preserve their typicity according to their origin in a changing climate. The choice of plant material is a valuable resource to implement these strategies. (JEL Classifications: Q13, Q54)


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalie Ollat ◽  
Jean-Marc Touzard ◽  
Cornelis van Leeuwen

AbstractClimate change will have a profound effect on vine growing worldwide. Wine quality will also be affected, which will raise economic issues. Possible adaptations may result from changes in plant material, viticultural techniques, and the wine-making process. Relocation of vineyards to cooler areas and increased irrigation are other options, but they may result in potential conflicts for land and water use. Grapes are currently grown in many regions around the world, and growers have adapted their practices to the wide range of climatic conditions that can be found among or inside these areas. This knowledge is precious for identifying potential adaptations to climate change. Because climate change affects all activities linked to wine production (grape growing, wine making, wine economics, and environmental issues), multidisciplinary research is needed to guide growers to continue to produce high-quality wines in an economical and environmentally sustainable way. An example of such an interdisciplinary study is the French LACCAVE (long-term adaptation to climate change in viticulture and enology) project, in which researchers from 23 institutes work together on all issues related to the impact of climate change on wine production. (JEL Classifications: Q1, Q5)


OENO One ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Pons ◽  
Lucile Allamy ◽  
Armin Schüttler ◽  
Doris Rauhut ◽  
Cécile Thibon ◽  
...  

The intrinsic quality of a wine is strongly linked with its volatile compound composition involved in the complexity of wine’s subtle flavor nuances. Those reminiscent of green pepper, herbaceous, blackcurrant, blackberry, figs or prunes are strongly linked with the maturity of the grapes. Nowadays it is well accepted that macroscopic effects of climate change modify the environmental conditions of grape growing at local scale in all the vineyards across the world. The expected effects on grape and wine production can be positive when they increase the maturity of the grapes, but when the conditions are too warm and too dry they induce opposite effects producing grapes and wines with a lower intrinsic quality. These effects were perceived in young wines but also in older wines kept several years in bottle.In this article, we provide some examples of effects of climate change and growing conditions on grapevine and wine quality expressed as flavors and antioxidant composition. We also report some results associated with the incidence of grape growing conditions on white and red wine aging potential and on the composition of old wines.Finally, we discuss the opportunities for vine growers and winemakers to manage the quality of their grapes and wines in this climate change context.


OENO One ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 67 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Esperanza Valdés ◽  
Daniel Moreno ◽  
Esther Gamero ◽  
David Uriarte ◽  
María Del Henar Prieto ◽  
...  

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Aim</strong>: The effects of cluster thinning and irrigation regime on vine performance and grape and wine quality of Tempranillo grapevines were studied in a field experiment carried out in Extremadura in Spain.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Methods and results</strong>: Treatments were combinations of two irrigation doses (25% and 100% of estimated crop evapotranspiration) and two crop levels (thinned and unthinned vines). Cluster thinning was performed just before veraison to retain five clusters per m2 of vine leaf area. Results showed that irrigation amount produced important differences in stem water potential, leaf area index and berry growth but cluster thinning did not significantly affect these parameters. However, cluster thinning independently of the irrigation amount, advanced by seven days grape maturity and largely affected the main grape quality parameters, increasing total soluble solids concentration, pH, total anthocyanins and phenolic content and reduced must yield. Wines made from grapes of the thinned treatments also had higher contents of anthocyanins, tanins and colour index. This increasing effect was more noticeable in the lower irrigation dose. Similarly, the higher irrigation amount reduced phenolic content of wines.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Conclusion</strong>: Both, lower irrigation rates and cluster thinning, despite decreased yield, improved wine composition. Overall thinning had a larger impact on grape and wine composition than irrigation.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Significance and impact of study</strong>: In the semi-arid environment of the Extremadura region of Spain, irrigation in Tempranillo is important to obtain economically sound yield. However, the irrigation dose to apply might vary depending on the desired wine style. Irrigation to replace potential evapotranspiration should be avoided for premium wine production and, in these cases; deficit irrigation is probably preferred as a tool to increase yields but minimizing the negative effects on fruit and wine quality. Cluster thinning, performed just before veraison, can be also applied to accelerate ripening improving the overall fruit phenolic composition.</p>


OENO One ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Alexandre Pons ◽  
Lucile Allamy ◽  
Armin Schüttler ◽  
Doris Rauhut ◽  
Cécile Thibon ◽  
...  

<p>The intrinsic quality of a wine is strongly linked with its volatile compound composition involved in the complexity of wine’s subtle flavor nuances. Those reminiscent of green pepper, herbaceous, blackcurrant, blackberry, figs or prunes are strongly linked with the maturity of the grapes. Nowadays it is well accepted that macroscopic effects of climate change modify the environmental conditions of grape growing at local scale in all the vineyards across the world. The expected effects on grape and wine production can be positive when they increase the maturity of the grapes, but when the conditions are too warm and too dry they induce opposite effects producing grapes and wines with a lower intrinsic quality. These effects were perceived in young wines but also in older wines kept several years in bottle.</p><p>In this article, we provide some examples of effects of climate change and growing conditions on grapevine and wine quality expressed as flavors and antioxidant composition. We also report some results associated with the incidence of grape growing conditions on white and red wine aging potential and on the composition of old wines.</p><p>Finally, we discuss the opportunities for vine growers and winemakers to manage the quality of their grapes and wines in this climate change context.<strong></strong></p>


OENO One ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalie Ollat ◽  
Cornelis Van Leeuwen ◽  
Iñaki Garcia de Cortazar-Atauri ◽  
Jean-Marc Touzard

<p>Grape production, wine quality, climatic conditions and geographical origins are closely related, making ongoing climate change a quite challenging issue for this economic sector. How will climatic conditions be affected locally ? How will local climate interact with topography, resulting in high climatic variability at vineyard scale ? How will vine performance, berry composition and wine quality be modified ? And what can be done to adapt vine growing and wine making practices to these new conditions ? These are the key questions the wine industry has to address in the following decades. In this context, it is obvious that this issue will require the development of close collaboration between actors, including producers and wine makers, extension services, marketing, policy makers and scientists. For the scientific community, addressing the climate change issue requires multidisciplinary studies and new scientific approaches.</p>


OENO One ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalie Ollat ◽  
Cornelis Van Leeuwen ◽  
Iñaki Garcia de Cortazar-Atauri ◽  
Jean-Marc Touzard

Grape production, wine quality, climatic conditions and geographical origins are closely related, making ongoing climate change a quite challenging issue for this economic sector. How will climatic conditions be affected locally ? How will local climate interact with topography, resulting in high climatic variability at vineyard scale ? How will vine performance, berry composition and wine quality be modified ? And what can be done to adapt vine growing and wine making practices to these new conditions ? These are the key questions the wine industry has to address in the following decades. In this context, it is obvious that this issue will require the development of close collaboration between actors, including producers and wine makers, extension services, marketing, policy makers and scientists. For the scientific community, addressing the climate change issue requires multidisciplinary studies and new scientific approaches.


Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
María Carmen Antolín ◽  
María Toledo ◽  
Inmaculada Pascual ◽  
Juan José Irigoyen ◽  
Nieves Goicoechea

(1) Background: The associated increase in global mean surface temperature together with raised atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration is exerting a profound influence on grapevine development (phenology) and grape quality. The exploitation of the local genetic diversity based on the recovery of ancient varieties has been proposed as an interesting option to cope with climate change and maintaining grape quality. Therefore, this research aimed to characterize the potential fruit quality of genotypes from seven local old grapevine varieties grown under climate change conditions. (2) Methods: The study was carried out on fruit-bearing cuttings (one cluster per plant) that were grown in pots in temperature gradient greenhouses (TGG). Two treatments were applied from fruit set to maturity: (1) ambient CO2 (400 ppm) and temperature (T) (ACAT) and (2) elevated CO2 (700 ppm) and temperature (T + 4 °C) (ECET). (3) Results: Results showed that some of the old genotypes tested remained quite stable during the climate change conditions in terms of fruit quality (mainly, total soluble solids and phenolic content) and of must antioxidant properties. (4) Conclusion: This research underlines the usefulness of exploiting local grapevine diversity to cope with climate change successfully, although further studies under field conditions and with whole plants are needed before extrapolating the results to the vineyard.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1273
Author(s):  
Nazareth Torres ◽  
Runze Yu ◽  
S. Kaan Kurtural

Vineyard-living microbiota affect grapevine health and adaptation to changing environments and determine the biological quality of soils that strongly influence wine quality. However, their abundance and interactions may be affected by vineyard management. The present study was conducted to assess whether the vineyard soil microbiome was altered by the use of biostimulants (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculation vs. non-inoculated) and/or irrigation management (fully irrigated vs. half irrigated). Bacterial and fungal communities in vineyard soils were shaped by both time course and soil management (i.e., the use of biostimulants and irrigation). Regarding alpha diversity, fungal communities were more responsive to treatments, whereas changes in beta diversity were mainly recorded in the bacterial communities. Edaphic factors rarely influence bacterial and fungal communities. Microbial network analyses suggested that the bacterial associations were weaker than the fungal ones under half irrigation and that the inoculation with AMF led to the increase in positive associations between vineyard-soil-living microbes. Altogether, the results highlight the need for more studies on the effect of management practices, especially the addition of AMF on cropping systems, to fully understand the factors that drive their variability, strengthen beneficial microbial networks, and achieve better soil quality, which will improve crop performance.


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