The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Kimberly Nicholas

Kimberly Nicholas

Professor

Kimberly Nicholas

Effect of vineyard-scale climate variability on Pinot noir phenolic composition

Author

  • Kimberly Nicholas
  • Mark A. Matthews
  • David B. Lobell
  • Neil H. Willits
  • Christopher B. Field

Summary, in English

The sensitivity of agricultural crops to climate change is a major area for climate impact studies. The relationship between climate and three key phenolic compounds in grape skins important to premium wine quality (anthocyanins, tannins, and total phenolics) has not been well-studied. Here we conducted a three-year field study to collect and analyze berry samples from Pinot noir vineyards in the Carneros and Sonoma Valley American Viticultural Areas of California's North Coast wine country, and correlate phenolic measurements with climate statistics derived from hourly temperature measures at each vineyard site. We used several statistical approaches to identify key phenologically-based periods influencing phenolic concentration at maturity, including classification and regression trees, factor screening, principal component analysis, and pairwise correlations. The results from these statistical models showed that cool conditions following harvest the year before maturity, warm temperatures from budburst to bloom, and cool temperatures from bloom to veraison (the onset of ripening) were positively correlated with concentrations of all three classes of phenolics, although not all trends were statistically significant. Anthocyanins were positively and significantly correlated with temperatures between 16 and 22 degrees C from veraison to harvest. Tannins were significantly increased by warm nights preceding budburst and warm days from budburst to bloom. We measured relatively high levels of light interception (35% of incident photosynthetically active radiation), and we found that increased light interception was significantly correlated with lower levels of all three classes of phenolic compounds in this study. For the Pinot noir sites in this study, warm temperatures from budburst to bloom appear to increase phenolic concentrations, which is likely beneficial for wine quality. However, warmer periods during the preceding fall and summer during ripening appear to offset these effects. Given projections for greater summer warming in California with climate change, the overall impact of climate change on winegrowing is likely to be negative. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Department/s

  • LUCSUS (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies)

Publishing year

2011

Language

English

Pages

1556-1567

Publication/Series

Agricultural and Forest Meteorology

Volume

151

Issue

12

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Elsevier

Topic

  • Other Social Sciences

Keywords

  • Climate change
  • Vitis vinifera
  • Wine
  • Climate sensitivity
  • Anthocyanins
  • Phenology
  • Temperature

Status

Published

Project

  • Wine and Climate: Impacts and Adaptation

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1873-2240