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WSET D1 > The Growing Environment: Water > Flashcards

The Growing Environment: Water Flashcards

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1
Q

How much water does a vine generally need in cool climates?

A

Minimum of 500 mm of rainfall per year

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2
Q

How much water does a vine generally need in warm climates?

A

Minimum of 750 mm of rainfall per year

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3
Q

For what 5 purposes does a vine need water?

A
  1. Turgidity (so that it doesn’t wilt)
  2. Photosynthesis
  3. Regulating its temperature
  4. Solvent for nutrients in the soil
  5. Medium in which all of the vine’s biochemical and physiological mechanisms take place
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4
Q

What is transpiration?

A
  • Water vapour diffuses out of the stomata (tiny pores) on the underside of vine leaves.
  • The loss of water from the cells in the leaf causes water to be pulled upwards from the soil, through the roots and the above-ground parts of the vine.
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5
Q

If a vine has sufficient water, what do the stomata do?

A
  • Stomata stay open all day.
  • Open stomata allow the free exchange of water vapour out of the vine, and also let carbon dioxide and oxygen diffuse in and out of the leaves.
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6
Q

Describe how water stress occurs. If a vine doesn’t have sufficient water, what do the stomata do?

A
  • Stomata partially close
  • Can help conserve water
  • Reduces or even stops photosynthesis due to lack of carbon dioxide entering the leaves.
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7
Q

What can water stress lead to for the vine?

A
  • Stunted growth
  • Ripening slowed
  • Leaf loss (extreme)
  • Vine death (extreme)
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8
Q

Name 4 winemaking regions where the lack of rainfall in the growing season is a large issue. How is it combatted?

A
  • Argentina, California, South Africa and Australia
  • Irrigation
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9
Q

If water is too easily available into late spring and early summer, what can happen to the vine?

A
  • Vegetative growth (growth of shoots and leaves) is promoted and prolonged into the period of grape ripening, which acts as a competitive source for the vine’s sugars, delaying and compromising ripening
  • Excessive shading of the grape bunches
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10
Q

When is mild water stress beneficial? Why?

A
  • Just before véraison
  • It inhibits further vegetative growth
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11
Q

Name 4 reasons why excessive shading of the grape bunches can be harmful.

A
  • Reduced formation of anthocyanins, tannins and aroma compounds
  • Less tannin polymerisation
  • Higher levels of methoxypyrazines
  • Poor ventilation (fungal disease risk)
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12
Q

Late in the ripening period, why can excessive water be harmful?

A
  • Dilution of sugars in the grapes
  • Grape splitting (encourages botrytis)
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13
Q

Why can a water deficit late in ripening be harmful?

A
  • Grape shrivel
  • Grapes may not reach the desired level of ripeness.
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14
Q

Why can damp soils be harmful?

A
  • Often cold, especially early in the growing season
  • Can delay budburst (shorter growing season)
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15
Q

Why can warm soils be beneficial?

A
  • Promote budburst
  • Encourage root growth
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16
Q

How can proximity to water effect fungal disease? Name 3 regions where this occurs beneficially.

A
  • Increases the level of humidity in the vineyard
  1. Sauternes (Garonne and Ciron river)
  2. Tokaj (Bodrog and Tisza river)
  3. Mosel
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17
Q

What can be used in areas where there is not sufficient rainfall to meet the vine’s needs?

A

Irrigation (depending on legislation, availability of irrigation water and other factors)

18
Q

What causes rainfall?

A

Rainfall is caused by water vapour condensing and precipitating

  • Warm temperatures cause moisture from the land to evaporate and rise
  • As the warm moist air rises in the atmosphere, it cools and condenses into clouds and eventually rain
19
Q

Describe how rain shadows happen.

A
  • Mountain ranges force winds of warm moist air upwards over high altitudes.
  • This causes the water vapour to cool, condense and precipitate.
  • This can mean that the regions on one side of the mountain experience greater rainfall, whereas regions on the other side are sheltered from the rain-bearing winds and often have very dry conditions (these regions are located in a ‘rain shadow’).
20
Q

Give an example of the rain shadow effect.

A
  • On the west of the Cascade Mountains the AVA of Puget Sound is cooler and much wetter than the warmer, drier AVAs to the east of the mountains, for example Columbia Valley.
  • Puget Sound - can dry farm (apply no irrigation)
  • Columbia Valley - requires irrigation
  • Vosges Mountain / Haardt Mountain
    Alsace / Pfalz // rest of France
  • Alps and Piedmont
21
Q

What does the amount of water in the soil available to the vine depend on?

A
  • How easily the water drains
  • The water-holding properties of the soil (a function of the soil’s texture and organic matter content)
  • The soil depth
22
Q

What type of soil has good water retention? Give an example.

A
  • Clay (Bordeaux right bank)
  • albariza in Jerez, Spain
23
Q

What type of soil has good drainage? Give an example.

A
  • Gravel
  • Hawkes Bay in New Zealand (Gimblett Gravels)
24
Q

What is the downside of soil that drains too easily?

A
  • Extremely free draining could mean that irrigation is necessary
25
Q

What is the downside of soils that retain a lot of water? What is this called?

A
  • Water-logged soils (usually as a result of poor drainage)
  • Reduce the amount of oxygen available to the roots
  • Slows growth
  • Eventually kills the vine
26
Q

How does topography influence water availability?

A
  • There will be greater surface run-off in vineyards on slopes.

-This can mean there is less penetration of water into the soil and therefore less water available to vine roots

27
Q

Is water run-off on slopes advantageous or disadvantageous?

A
  • Can be both
  • Advantageous: in regions with high rainfall
  • Disadvantageous: surface run-off causes erosion of the soil and leaching of nutrients
28
Q

What is the evapotranspiration rate?

A
  • Evapotranspiration rate is the amount of transpiration from the vine, combined with the evaporation of water from the soil surface.
  • The rate at which water is no longer available, either because it has been taken up by the vine or because it has been lost to the atmosphere (e.g. evaporation from the soil surface).
29
Q

What factors lead to a higher evapotranspiration rate? Name 2 regions that experience this.

A
  • Hot
  • Dry
  • Windy weather (e.g. Mendoza, Patagonia)
30
Q

Why do vines in hot, dry, windy conditions need more water than vines in cool and humid conditions?

A

The rate of evapotranspiration is higher.

31
Q

What is weather?

A
  • A region’s weather is the annual variation that happens relative to the climatic average.
  • Some regions experience greater variation in this pattern than others
32
Q

Give an example of a region that has a large variation in annual weather. Describe why.

A
  • The amount and timing of rainfall in Bordeaux can vary quite considerably
  • In 2007 the region was cool, cloudy and wet during most of August
  • In 2003 high temperatures and near drought conditions were experienced
33
Q

Give an example of a region that has predictable weather patterns.

A
  • Central Valley in California
  • Hot, dry weather from one growing season to the next.
34
Q

What is vintage variation? What can this lead to in the winery?

A
  • When weather has a significant influence on the wines produced in that year
  • Influence sugar and acid levels, and tannin and aroma/flavour ripeness.
  • Leads to adjustments made in the winery
35
Q

How can weather affect yields?

A
  • Rainy years can bring more fungal disease, reducing yields
  • Spring frosts can also lead to significant reductions in yield, especially if no frost protection is available
36
Q

What are the main effects of climate change?

A
  • Main: rise in temperatures
  • Greater evapotranspiration (leads to water stress)
  • Changes in the geographical distribution of rainfall
  • Greater weather variability
  • Greater frequency of extreme weather events
37
Q

How has rising temperatures affected the vine cycle?

A
  • In warmer temperatures, the vine cycle is faster
  • Budburst occurs earlier in the spring; each stage of the vine cycle becomes quicker
  • Speeds up the rate of sugar accumulation and reduction of acidity
  • Does not quicken the ripening of most aroma and tannin compounds
38
Q

What must be done to accommodate the effect of climate change in warmer climates?

A
  • In order not to compromise the ripeness of aromas and tannins and the accumulation of colour, grapes may be picked with higher levels of sugar, causing higher alcohol levels in wines and lower levels of acidity.
  • The more rapid fall in acidity can give wines with higher pH levels, and this could be problematic in winemaking.
39
Q

As the climate warms, are early-ripening or late-ripening grape varieties more negatively affected?

A

Early-ripening due to the compression of ripening.

  • Late-ripening typically require more time and so will be less affected
40
Q

What regions might benefit from climate change?

A
  • Regions and countries that have previously been too cold to ripen grapes
  • Regions that experience plentiful rainfall in the growing season (drier conditions will help reduce fungal diseases)
41
Q

What regions are experiencing excessive temperatures and/or drought? What does it mean for the future of these vineyards?

A

Parts of California, Spain and South Africa

  • Regions may have to be abandoned in the next 50-100 years
42
Q

In what 4 ways have many grape growers and wine businesses started to act to mitigate and to better adapt to the effects of climate change?

A
  1. Practise sustainable techniques such as using renewable energy resources and protecting natural ecosystems
  2. Site selection
  3. Choice of planting material
  4. Efficacy of different vineyard management techniques

WSET D1 (25 decks)

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