Jessica Williamson,* Richard Petrone, Riccardo Valentini, and Andrew Reynolds
*University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave., Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada (ja5willi@uwaterloo.ca)

Canada’s wine industry contributes over $11 billion toward the national economy, of which $5.5 billion is generated by Ontario wineries. The cultivation of high-quality grapes to produce economically valuable wines does not come without challenges to growers and winemakers alike. Spatial variability in microclimate and soil conditions have been a long-standing challenge to growers since the start of grapevine cultivation. With the added pressures of adapting to climate change, vineyards will require special management adaptations to achieve high-quality berry yields and wines. The role of spatial variability on grape quality is especially important within the three principal growing regions of Ontario, Canada. Here, climate is shifting toward longer and warmer growing seasons, with variable precipitation patterns that present additional threats to growers, in addition to those that already exist due to vineyard spatial variability. This research used a combination of methods aimed at assessing hydrometeorological components, site-wide and between different blocks and rows and among individual grapevines, to best understand spatial differences across two vineyards in the Niagara growing region. VineTalkers, an innovative new tool for collecting biophysical data across large heterogeneous landscapes from individual plants, collected data on water transport, leaf spectrometry, below-canopy radiation, and various microclimatic measurements. Preliminary results showed homogeneity across blocks for subcanopy air and soil temperatures, while variability was present for soil moisture and sap flow (transpiration) conditions. This data, paired with meteorological and eddy covariance tower findings, presents an opportunity for growers to understand the current state of their vineyards and the spatial variability across their crop, allowing them to make specific, non-uniform management decisions to enhance grape yield and quality each growing season.

Funding Support: Global Water Futures, Ontario Grape and Wine Research Inc.