Impact of heat accumulation pattern on the enological potential of Vitis sp. berries

Over the years, consumption of wine has been a lifestyle of many Canadian households, with majority of these wines imported from outside Canada. On the local market, Canadian made wine competes with sometimes century-long wine producing countries (e.g. France, Italy, Spain) that are carefully selected by importers (SAQ, NSLC, LCBO, etc.). With this gap in the Canadian wine market, there is the need to expand the Canadian grape industry towards the production of wine with high market value to increase its share on the local market. Currently, grape production is growing fast in Nova Scotia, Quebec and other Eastern Canadian provinces such as PEI and New Brunswick. Despite this trend, one of the main limiting factors encountered by grape growers is climate and its impact on grape berry ripening, which noticeably affect wine quality. Improving the understanding of how grape varieties adapt to specific seasons-types such as those experienced in NS and QC, and how ripening stages determine grape enological potential will allow to optimize grape variety selection for a given climate and improve harvest decisions, to produce the best wine.

Faculty Supervisor:

Karine Pedneault

Student:

Josephine Ampofo

Partner:

Canadian Grapevine Certification Network

Discipline:

Other

Sector:

Agriculture

University:

Université Sainte-Anne