Viña Concha y Toro begins planting 'Grapevines 2.0'

By James Bayley

Published: 06 December, 2022

Eight years since the launch of Viña Concha y Toro's Centre for Research and Innovation, the first of its climate change ‘resistant’ vines have been planted

The vines were created with the help of quantitative polymerase chain reaction, qPCR, the world’s most sensitive analysis technique based on sanitary selection and fungus cleaning.

The new vines, coined ‘Grapevines 2.0,’ are reportedly free from 13 viruses and five wood-decay fungi that affect the vineyards, enabling the vines to have a longer lifespan and be more resistant to climate change.  

READ MORE: Casa Real: Thirty years of excellence

The first Grapevine 2.0 planting was carried out in the company's El Triángulo Estate, located in Chile’s Valparaíso Region.

“This major milestone is the result of the CRI’s research and development program, which was launched in 2016 and today constitutes a specific innovation success story that will improve the productivity and longevity of our vineyards and add value to the work of our agricultural area”, said Director, Álvaro González.

Looking ahead, Viña Concha y Toro has plans to develop grapevines free from 12 more viruses, reinforced with Trichoderma (beneficial fungi), to further protect the grapevines.

Another relevant success story is the implementation of the estate’s precision irrigation. Four years ago, a new water efficiency project was launched at the Centre for Research (CRI), which consists of implementing an irrigation management system based on the development of crop coefficient (Kc) curves in different fields of the company, which, together with the analysis of meteorological information, makes it possible to calculate the specific water demand for the vineyard.

Simply put, the system tells you exactly when to irrigate and how much to irrigate.

This plan is currently applied to 900 hectares of the 10,000 hectares planted by the holding company in Chile, which has reportedly led to savings of 18% on average in the amount of water used.

Printer friendly version