What’s your idea of the vineyard of the future? As we discussed in a previous entry, vineyard owners are increasingly opting for mechanized solutions to harvesting, irrigation and other farming tasks. With latest available technologies, vineyard owners enjoy better farm productivity, improved product quality and consistency and higher sales and […]
Carbohydrate reserves play a critical role in the grapevine growth cycle by providing a carbon source to support root and shoot growth after bud break. Research results suggest that the amount of reserves stored over winter can influence reproductive development and shoot growth for the next season. In this article, […]
Labor shortages have emerged as one of the top challenges facing the wine industry, according to a recent survey by UC Davis. In this entry, Fruition Sciences reviews some macro and regional workforce trends we’ve seen in the news. In the current tight labor market, vineyard owners need to manage […]
Rotundone is a fruit compound responsible for the peppery aroma in wines. Because of its low sensory detection threshold (16 ng/L in red wine and 8 ng/L in water), rotundone produces a strong aroma effect in wines like Syrah, Mourvèdre, Durif (ie. Petite syrah) and Duras. Recently, researchers have demonstrated […]
This month is a special month for the Fruition Sciences team. We are very honored to be featured in the cover story of the September/October issue of Vineyard & Winery Management. As you probably know, since 2007, we’ve been helping grape growers and winemakers save water and improve the quality of […]
Developing accurate estimates of crop yield and canopy size is a challenging, critical task for grapegrowers. Regardless of how you develop your estimates, crop weight and canopy estimates impact a variety of business decisions, including how to optimize fruit quality and manage the logistics at harvest. With accurate estimates, you […]
Historical context Why measuring sap flow leads to understanding nutrient uptake? All vine organs are connected via the sap. Thanks to the flow of sap, nutrients are distributed to plant organs. For the last 10 years sap flow technogies have given new insights into how much water flows from vine […]
Update on Napa 2016 vintage, First half of the 2016 season illustrates the effects of warmer temperatures in a context of low water deficit due to high rain supply earlier from El Niño. The 2016 vintage is a unique opportunity to tease apart the effect of warm temperatures alone while […]
After harvest ended in Bordeaux for whites and reds, comments and articles about the 2015 vintage were all over the web : it seemed like another great vintage. At first, during the summer, 2015 was expected to mimic 2003 due to the extreme heat and drought in July. Now that […]
Several definitions exist to characterize grape berry maturity: technological, aromatic, polyphenolic, and enological: Technological maturity is the time point beyond which berries do not accumulate more sugar and do not lose any more acidity. Phenolic maturity takes into account the quantitative and qualitative evolution of the berry polyphenols in the skin (anthocyanin […]
