Orienting the vines towards the west improves the composition of the wine and allows better adaptation to climate change.This is the main conclusion of work developed over two years. by a team from the Desertification Research Center (CIDE), a joint center of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), the University of Valencia and the Generalitat Valenciana.
The study developed shows that a orientation of vegetation from the vineyard to the west, thanks to an innovative adaptation of the traditional vertical trellis, improves the composition of the grapes and the wine.
The study, recently published in open access in the OENO One magazine under the title Effects of crown inclination on the composition of the grapes and the quality of “Bobal” wine, highlights this system as a way to adapt to increasing temperatures due to climate change.
Tilt the shoots
Research shows that in a vineyard planted on trellises with a north-south orientation in a rowr, the most widespread in the cultivation of vines in our country, the composition of grapes and wine can be improved bend the branches towards the west.
It’s possible increase the color of the wine and the phenolic maturity of the grapes by optimizing the exposure of leaves and clusters to solar radiation, and protect 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 freshness in the mouth of the wines.
Adaptation to extreme conditions
As explained in the work developed by the CIDE Water and Cultures Research Group, this shoot distribution system allows adapt the vineyard to the most extreme conditions of climate change.
All this without the need to vary the plant material or the location of the crop, thus being able to preserve the initial planting and only vary the orientation of the vegetation, an innovation that can be implemented thanks to a folding trellis system compatible with the mechanization of the vineyard.
As Diego Intrigliolo Molina, researcher at CSIC and coordinator of the work, explains, “the main application of this system of distribution and orientation of the shoots lies in the production of quality and high-end wines, because It can be used to improve the composition of grapes and allow longer aging of wines.. “By starting from grapes with more phenolic content, longer aging can be achieved.”
Against water stress
Another possible application of the research could be the mitigation of the negative effects of water stress, since thanks to the new driving system Radiation intercepted by strains can be reduced during times of day when evaporative demand is greatest.
The test was carried out during two consecutive campaigns in a vineyard with deficit irrigation of Vitis vinifera L.cv. Bobal located in Requena (Valencia), in a warm temperate climate. Bobal is, after Tempranillo, the second red grape variety grown in Spain.
Coping strategies
In recent years, scientists and winegrowers have explored field strategies to fight against the harmful effects of climate change in the composition of the grape.
Possible coping strategies may include early harvestalthough this is not viable, as it would not allow the grapes to reach the appropriate phenolic maturity, the moving the vineyard to cooler locations and changing the genetic material used, such as vine varieties, clones and rootstocks.
Other coping strategiesn involve changes in land management techniquesnotably irrigation, delaying the phenology of the vine with late winter pruning, modulating the interception of light, adapting the architecture of the vine, managing the plant cover, etc.
30 degree tilt
The study carried out by the CIDE team focuses on the benefits of forest cover management by tilting the traditional vertical shoot positioning system to the west by 30 degrees.
The vertical system is the most used in grapes intended for wine production, as it allows mechanical harvesting and efficient vegetation management for get more germsthus improving performance and resulting in broths with superior sensory characteristics.
Aromatic analysis of west-facing vineyards revealed that the resulting wines had higher concentrations of esters (fermentative aromas) and higher alcohols than other management strategies.
Adaptation to climate change
These results demonstrate that the inclination of the plant cover of the vine can be a useful technique for adapt the composition of the must and the quality of the wine to climate change by increasing the interception of solar radiation in the morning and reducing the heating of the clusters in the afternoon.
The findings of the work suggest a line of research into the potential existing in canopy management practices for regulate radiation load in different crops and environmental conditions. It also provides information on the physiological bases of its effects on the water status of the vine and the microclimate of the grape cluster.
In the research developed by the CIDE team, he also participated scientific staff from the University Institute of Food Engineering (FoodUPV) of the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the Valencian Institute of Agrarian Research (IVIA – Generalitat Valenciana).
