Enhancing climate change resilience in viticulture using information in long-term records

Winegrape phenology (the timing of seasonal events – leafout, flowering, harvest) has traditionally been an important tool for winegrowers to plan vineyard management. With warming, however, winegrape phenology has advanced significantly, impacting the type and quality of wine different vineyards can produce. How large the impact of climate change has been, and will be, depends on several factors including which winegrape varieties (or cultivars, such as Pinot noir or Syrah) a vineyard has planted. Shifts in phenology could change the suitability of varieties currently planted, but we have data on only a few widely grown varieties. We propose to use long-term records from the Unité Expérimentale du Domaine de Vassal, a French research vineyard, to examine how climate change affects winegrape phenology of roughly 200 varieties. This unique diversity of varieties will allow us to include typically understudied varieties in our research and help develop tools and information for winegrowers to adapt their vineyards to climate change.

Faculty Supervisor:

Elizabeth Wolkovich

Student:

Partner:

INRAE Occitanie-Montpellier Research Centre

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Agriculture and Food; Sustainability & the Environment; Life Sciences (not health)

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: