ASEV and Viticultural Research Collaboration

Abstract

This travel report details outputs from attendance at the 65th American Society of Enology and Viticulture (ASEV) National Conference and 39th ASEV Eastern Section Annual meeting, held at Austin, Texas, from 23 to 27 June 2014. In addition to attending and giving a presentation (Walker et al. 2014) at the annual meeting, two symposia were attended. They were the ‘Water Use Efficiency’ Symposium and ‘Winemaking for Challenging Environments Symposium’. An overview of each Symposium program is presented in this report, plus highlights of selected presentations from the main conference program. Attendance at the meeting enabled networking with leading grape and wine researchers from the US and other countries. This included discussions with collaborators at UC Davis enabling existing collaborations to be progressed and new collaborations to be discussed.

Summary

The annual ASEV meeting provides an opportunity to hear the latest research presentations on a wide range of topics in grape and wine science and the opportunity to network with leaders in this field. Two Symposia of high relevance to the Australian industry (‘Water use Efficiency’ and ‘Winemaking for Challenging Environments’) are included in the program. Water use efficiency is a major R&D goal in Australia where irrigated vineyards comprise over 90% of the total vineyard area and where water supplies may come under pressure, especially in times of drought. Salinity is also a concern in some production regions. Generally, these are the regions where the only water available for irrigation purposes is saline and often in limited quantity. Such situations require careful management to avoid build-up of salt levels in soil to unsustainable levels and the associated negative impacts on soil structure and water permeability. From the plant perspective, much effort is being directed in Australia to identifying rootstocks with improved water use efficiency, drought tolerance and salt tolerance. The US rootstock breeding program at the University of California, Davis, led by Professor Andy Walker has similar interests and discussions were held to share information on research strategies and outcomes. Knowledge gained at the Symposium and Meeting will be beneficial in helping to develop strategies for improved management of scarce water supplies. The meeting also provided an opportunity to meet with a range of leading US researchers and invited international keynote speakers in grape and wine research and to share results and ideas. Existing collaborations were enhanced and new collaborations were discussed. While there were many highlights from the meeting, some notable ones were hearing about the development of grapevine types with resistance to Pierce’s disease, the development of a new microtensiometer for continuous monitoring of soil and plant water potentials and opportunities for application of the device in both R&D and commercial settings. Presenters also outlined exciting applications of neutron radiography, micro computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging for studies of embolism and xylem vessel repair, and the application of a Satellite Irrigation Management Support (SIMS) in irrigation scheduling and management.