This vine shoot distribution system makes it possible to adapt the vineyard to the most extreme conditions of climate change, without having to change the planting material or the location of the crop.
The study carried out by the CIDE team (CSIC - University of Valencia - Generalitat Valenciana) focuses on the benefits of inclining the vine trellis 30° to the west.
The Desertification Research Center (CIDE), a joint research center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the University of Valencia and the Generalitat Valenciana, has developed a study showing that a westward orientation of vine vegetation, through an innovative adaptation of the traditional vertical trellis, improves grape and wine composition. The study, recently published in open access in the journal OENO One, points to this system as a way to adapt to rising temperatures due to climate change.
The research shows that, in a trellised vineyard with a north-south row orientation, the most common in vine cultivation in our country, the composition of the grapes and the wine can be improved by inclining the shoots towards the west. It is possible to increase the color of the wine and the phenolic maturity of the grapes by optimizing the exposure of the leaves and bunches to solar radiation, and protecting them from excessive exposure to the sun during the hottest hours of the day. It should be noted that the phenolic content of grapes refers to the chemical compounds that directly influence the flavor, color and mouthfeel of wines.
As explained in the work developed by the Water and Crops Research Group of the CIDE, this vine shoot distribution system allows the vineyard to adapt to the most extreme conditions of climate change, without the need to vary the planting material or the location of the crop, thus being able to maintain the initial planting and vary only the orientation of the vegetation. All this can be implemented thanks to a folding trellis system compatible with the mechanization of the vineyard.
Applications
As Diego Intrigliolo Molina, CSIC researcher attached to the CIDE and coordinator of the work, explains, “the main application of this vine shoot distribution and orientation system lies in the production of high-end and quality wines, since it can be used to improve the composition of the grape and allow longer aging of the wines. By starting from grapes with a higher phenolic load, it is possible to carry out a longer aging process”.
Another application can be the mitigation of the negative effects of water stress, since the novel conduction system can reduce the radiation intercepted by the vines during the hours of the day when evaporative demand is greatest.
The trial was conducted during two consecutive seasons in a deficit irrigated vineyard of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Bobal located in Requena (Valencia), under a warm-temperate climate. Bobal is, after Tempranillo, the second red grape variety cultivated in Spain.
Adaptation strategies
In recent years, scientists and viticulturists have explored field strategies to cope with the adverse effects of climate change on grape composition. Possible adaptation strategies may include early harvesting, although this may not be feasible as it would not allow grapes to reach adequate phenolic maturity, relocation of vineyards to cooler locations, and modification of the genetic material used, such as grapevine varieties, clones, and rootstocks.
Other adaptation strategies involve changes in field management techniques, including irrigation, delaying vine phenology with late winter pruning, modulating light interception, adjustments in vine architecture, canopy management, etc.
The study carried out by the CIDE team focuses on the benefits of canopy management by tilting the traditional vertical shoot positioning system 30° to the west. The vertical system is the most widely used in grapes that will be used for winemaking, as it allows mechanical harvesting and effective vegetation management to achieve more shoots, thus improving yields and resulting in wines with superior sensory characteristics.
Aromatic analysis of the west-facing vineyards revealed that the resulting wines had higher concentrations of esters (fermentative aromas) and higher alcohols than the other management strategies. These results demonstrate that vine canopy tilt can be a useful technique for adapting must composition and wine quality to climate change by increasing solar radiation interception in the morning and decreasing bunch heating in the afternoon.
The conclusions of the work point to a line of research on the potential of canopy management practices to regulate radiation load in different crops and environmental conditions. It also provides information on the physiological basis of their effects on vine water status and cluster microclimate.
The research, carried out by the CIDE team, also involved scientific staff from the University Institute of Food Engineering (FoodUPV) of the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the Valencian Institute of Agricultural Research (IVIA - Generalitat Valenciana).
Reference:
Raúl Ferrer-Gallego, Ignacio Buesa, María J. García-Esparza, Inmaculada Álvarez, Diego S. Intrigliolo, Juan Miguel Ramírez-Cuesta, Victoria Lizama. Effects of grapevine canopy leaning on grape composition and wine quality of ‘Bobal’. Vol. 58 No. 3 (2024): OENO One. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20870/oeno-one.2024.58.3.8014
CIDE Communication
