New INRA/JKI varieties susceptible to drought.

Floreal

 

The new grape varieties Floreal, Voltis Vidoc and Artaban have been obtained by crossing something called Muscadina Rotundifolia with Villaris in the case of the first two to produce white grapes and with Regent to produce the latter two. the Julius Kuehn Institute gets mentioned because Regent is one of their grape varieties.

Now it seems these new varieties have hit the buffers as far as global warming is concerned. 50 days without water is enough to kill Floréal. You would need 150 for Pinot Noir, Merlot, or Cabernet Sauvignon.

Floréal is the most sensitive, followed by Vidoc and Voltis. Artaban comes off better » Sylvain Delzon maintained in the most recent lecture at 'Vendanges du Savoir' at the Cité du vin de Bordeaux on December 8th last.

Also, the vine is the only species that can store moisture in the wood if we have understood the following properly:

'la vigne est de plus en plus résistante à l’embolie au fur et à mesure de l’avancée de la saison du fait de la lignification de ses vaisseaux. « Un phénomène jamais observé sur d’autres espèces ».' (Delzon).

(the vine is increasingly resistant to embolism (gas bubble preventing hydration) as the season progresses due to the lignification of its vessels. “A phenomenon never observed on other species”).

Lignification;

'Lignification is the technical name for a stem becoming woody—brown, dry, and hard as opposed to green, sappy, and pliable.'

Fred Swan, GuildSom 28.6.17

Fred adds 

'Despite thousands of years of winemaking history, we’re still refining our understanding of the myriad factors leading any given wine to taste and feel as it does. Arguably, no other consumer product has such variety or involves so many minute, often inscrutable, factors. A wine’s personality is influenced by geology, microbiology, chemistry, plant and human physiology, agronomy, entomology, geography, weather, and more.'

Something to think about on cold winter evenings when you sip your vino da meditazione.....