“Wine is a globally competitive business. Wineries need to meet a certain level of quality in order to be successful in the market,” said Simone Castellarin, Canada Research Chair, Viticulture & Plant Genomics and an Assistant Professor in the UBC Wine Research Centre. “Science can provide growers with research that can help them improve the quality of their fruit,
which will ultimately result in a better tasting wine.”
Castellarin works closely with growers to identify potential research projects that will most benefit the industry. “Growers are in the vineyards every day and are very helpful in developing new projects,” he said, adding that he’s currently working with grape and wine producers in the Okangan valley — where most BC wine grapes are grown — to understand how growers can use crop irrigation to enhance wine quality.
“By applying stress to a crop — such as limiting the amount of water the crop receives — we can potentially impact the production of aromatics in grapes and later on in wines,” Castellarin said. “I’m looking at which water irrigation management strategies can improve the quality of grapes, and ultimately the flavor of the wine, as well as how these situations affect the metabolism of the fruit.”
The three-year study, supported by the BC Wine and Grape Council and BC Investment Agriculture Foundation, began last summer. White grape samples were collected from vineyards and then later measured for aromatics in Castellarin’s lab.
While water irrigation strategies are often used on red grapes, the impact of these same strategies on the quality of white grapes hasn’t been widely researched; white grapes are normally grown in wetter climates, where the plant’s access to water isn’t restricted. Castellarin’s lab — an international group of researchers and students from Canada, France, China, Italy, Poland, Mexico, and Australia — is one of the first to test the reaction of water deficit on white grapes.
Using less water to irrigate the plant could not only help to create a more sustainable operation, it could potentially improve the aromatics of the grape.
“Many wineries are working to make sure they are considering the environmental impact of their production, like reducing amounts of water used for producing grapes or reducing pesticides,” said Castellarin.
Castellarin’s research is shaped by the summers he spent working on his family’s vineyard in Italy while he was growing up, and several international research experiences in Europe and North America. He joined the UBC Wine Research Centre, a pioneering research centre in enology and viticulture to promote the technological advancement of the wine industry in Canada and beyond, in 2014.
This summer, he will teach a field lab course focused on wine grape production in Kelowna, one of the first joint courses offered by UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan (APBI 490/APBI 420).
“Working with grapes and wine has given me the opportunity to interact with many people from around the world,” he said. “I feel lucky to be doing research in a field I really like.”