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WSET Diploma, Module 1 > Water > Flashcards

Water Flashcards

1
Q

How much water does a vine generally need in cool climates?

A

minimum 500mm of rainfall per year

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2
Q

How much water does a vine generally need in warm climates?

A

minimum 750mm of rainfall per year

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3
Q

For what 5 purposes does a vine need water?

A
  1. Turgidity (so that it doesn’t wilt)
  2. Photosynthesis
  3. Regulating its temperature
  4. Solvent for nutrients in the soil
  5. Medium in which all of the vine’s biochemical and physiological mechanisms take place
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4
Q

What is transpiration?

A
  • water vapor diffuses out of the stomata on the underside of the leaves
  • the loss of water from the cells in the leaf causes water to be pulled upwards from the soil, through the roots and the above-ground parts of the vine
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5
Q

If a vine has sufficient water, what do the stomata do?

A
  • stomata stay open all day
  • open stomata allow the free exchange of water vapor out of the vine, and also let carbon dioxide and oxygen diffuse in and out of the leaves
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6
Q

Describe how water stress occurs. If a vine doesn’t have sufficient water, what do the stomata do?

A
  • stomata partially close
  • can help conserve water
  • reduces or even stops photosynthesis due to lack of carbon dioxide entering the leaves
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7
Q

What can water stress lead to for the vine?

A
  • stunted growth
  • ripening slowed
  • leaf loss (extreme)
  • vine death (extreme)
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8
Q

Name 4 winemaking regions where the lack of rainfall in the growing season is a large issue. How is it combatted?

A
  • Argentina, California, South Africa and Australia
  • irrigation
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9
Q

If water is too easily available into late spring and early summer, what can happen to the vine?

A
  • vegetative growth (of shoots and leaves) is promoted and prolonged into the period of grape ripening, which acts as a competitive source for the vine’s sugars, delaying and compromising ripening
  • excessive shading of the grape bunches
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10
Q

When is mild water stress beneficial? Why?

A
  • just before veraison
  • it inhibits further vegetative growth
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11
Q

Name 4 reasons why excessive shading of the grape bunches can be harmful.

A
  • reduced formation of anthocyanins, tannins, and aroma compounds
  • less tannin polymerization
  • higher levels of methoxypyrazines
  • poor ventilation (fungal disease risk)
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12
Q

Late in the ripening period, why can excessive water be harmful?

A
  • dilution of sugars in the grapes
  • grape splitting (encourages botrytis)
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13
Q

Why can a water deficit late in ripening be harmful?

A
  • grape shrivel
  • grapes may not reach desired level of ripeness
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14
Q

Why can damp soils be harmful?

A
  • often cold, especially early in the growing season
  • can delay budburst (shorter growing season)
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15
Q

Why can warm soils be beneficial?

A
  • promote budburst
  • encourage root growth
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16
Q

How can proximity to water affect fungal disease?
Name 3 regions where this occurs beneficially.

A
  • increases the level of humidity in the vineyard
  1. Sauternes
  2. Tokaj
  3. Mosel
17
Q

What can be used in areas where there is not sufficient rainfall to meet the vine’s needs?

A

Irrigation (depending on legislation, availability of irrigation water and other factors)

18
Q

What causes rainfall?

A

Rainfall is caused by water vapor condensing and precipitating

  • warm temperatures cause moisture from the land to evaporate and rise
  • as the warm moist air rises in the atmosphere, it cools and condenses into clouds and eventually rain
19
Q

Describe how rain shadows happen.

A
  • mountain ranges force winds of warm moist air upwards over high altitudes
  • this causes the water vapor to cool, condense, and precipitate
  • this can mean that the regions on one side of the mountain experience greater rainfall, whereas regions on the other side are sheltered from the rain-bearing winds and often have very dry conditions (these regions are located in a rain shadow)
20
Q

Give an example of the rain shadow effect.

A
  • on the west of the Cascade Mountains is the AVA of Puget Sound, which is cooler and much wetter than the warmer, drier AVAs to the east of the mountains, e.g. Columbia Valley
  • Puget Sound can dry farm
  • Columbia Valley requires irrigation
21
Q

What does the amount of water in the soil available to the vine depend on?

A
  • how easily the water drains
  • the water-holding properties of the soil (a function of the soil’s texture and organic matter content)
  • the soil depth
22
Q

Why type of soil has good water retention? Give an example.

A

Clay (albariza in Jerez, Spain)

23
Q

What type of soil has good drainage? Give an example.

A

Gravel (e.g. Hawkes Bay in NZ)

24
Q

What is the downside of soil that drains too easily?

A
  • extremely free-draining could mean that irrigation is necessary
25
Q

What is the downside of soils that regain a lot of water? What is this called?

A
  • water-logged soils (usually as a result of poor drainage)
  • reduce the amount of oxygen available to the roots
  • slows growth
  • eventually kills the vine
26
Q

How does topography influence water availability?

A
  • there will be greater surface run-off in vineyards on slopes
  • this can mean there is less penetration of water into the soil and therefore less water available to vine roots
27
Q

Is water run-off on slopes advantageous or disadvantageous?

A
  • can be both
  • adv: in regions with high rainfall
  • dis: surface run-off causes erosion of the soil and leaching of nutrients
28
Q

What is the evapotranspiration rate?

A
  • the amount of transpiration from the vine, combined with the evaporation of water from the soil surface
  • the rate at which water is no longer available, either because it has been taken up by the vine or because it has been lost to the atmosphere (e.g. evaporation from the soil surface)
29
Q

What factors lead to a higher evapotranspiration rate? Name 2 regions that experience this.

A
  • hot, dry
  • windy weather (e.g. Mendoza, Patagonia)
30
Q

Why do vines in hot, dry, windy conditions need more water than vines in cool and humid conditions?

A

The rate of evapotranspiration is higher.

WSET Diploma, Module 1 (70 decks)

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