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Sugars play an important role in grapevine flowering. This complex process from inflorescence initiation to fruit maturity takes two growing seasons. Currently, most of the available data concern the involvement of sugars as energy sources during the formation of reproductive structures from initiation of inflorescences during the summer of the first year, until flower opening during the following spring. Sugars devoted to the development of reproductive structures are supplied either by wood reserves or by photosynthesis in leaves or inflorescences, depending on the stage of development. Female meiosis appears to be a key point in the success of flower formation because (i) flowers are vulnerable at this stage and (ii) it corresponds in the whole plant to the transition between reserve mobilization from perennial organs (roots, trunk, and canes) towards efficient leaf photosynthesis. The perturbation of reserve replenishment during the previous year provokes perturbation in the development of inflorescences, whereas altering the photosynthetic sources affects the formation of flowers during the same year. In particular, a lack of sugar availability in flowers at female meiosis caused by various environmental or physiological fluctuations may lead to drastic flower abortion. Apart from energy, sugars also play roles as regulators of gene expression and as signal molecules that may be involved in stress responses. In the future, these two topics should be further investigated in the grapevine considering the sensitivity of flowers to environmental stresses at meiosis.

Remote optical imaging can rapidly acquire information describing spatial variability in vineyard block performance. Canopy characteristics were derived from very high spatial resolution (0.25 m) optical imagery of a Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard acquired at various canopy growth stages. Within-season changes to correlation coefficients between vineyard canopy and ultimate composition and yield of harvested fruit were then investigated. Canopy area and density were observed to have significant relationships with yield and fruit quality indicators including berry size, anthocyanins and total phenolic content, but less significant relationships with total soluble solids. The strength and type of correlation varied with canopy growth stage. For anthocyanins and total phenolic content, correlations varied from non-significant before flowering to negative after flowering. For berry weight and yield, correlations varied from negative before flowering to positive after flowering. For total soluble solids, there were some significant relationships but no clear temporal pattern. The results confirm that remote sensing is a useful tool to determine spatial variability in fruit composition and yield. However, both the timing of image acquisition and the way in which canopy is quantified are important determinants of the direction and strength of correlations with fruit composition and yield.

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Carbohydrates are accumulated within the perennial structure of grapevines when their production exceeds the requirements of reproduction and growth. The period between harvest and leaf-fall (the post-harvest period) is a key period for carbohydrate accumulation in relatively warmer grape-growing regions. The level of carbohydrate reserves available for utilisation in the following season has an important effect on canopy growth and yield potential and is therefore an important consideration in vineyard management. In a warming climate, the post-harvest period is lengthening and becoming warmer, evidenced through studies in wine regions worldwide that have correlated recent air temperature increases with changing grapevine phenology. Budbreak, flowering, veraison, and harvest have all been observed to be occurring earlier than in previous decades. Additionally, the final stage of the grapevine phenological cycle, leaf-fall, occurs later. This study explored the potential for increased post-harvest carbohydrate accumulation by modelling heat accumulation following harvest dates for the recent climate (1975-2004) and two warmer climate projections with mean temperature anomalies of +1.26 and +2.61 °C. Summaries of post-harvest heat accumulation between harvest and leaf-fall were produced for each of Australia's Geographical Indications (wine regions) to provide comparisons from the base temperatures to projected warmer conditions across a range of climates. The results indicate that for warmer conditions, all regions observe earlier occurring budbreak and harvest as well as increasing post-harvest growing degree days accumulation before leaf-fall. The level of increase varies depending upon starting climatic condition, with cooler regions experiencing the greatest change.

Sunburn is a physiological disorder that affects the visual and organoleptic properties of grapes. The appearance of brown and necrotic spots severely affects the commercial value of the fruit, and in extreme cases, significantly decreases yield. Depending on the severity of the damage and the driving factors, sunburn on grapes can be classified as sunburn browning (SB) or as sunburn necrosis (SN). Sunburn results from a combination of excessive photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and UV radiation and temperature that can be exacerbated by other stress factors such as water deficit. Fruit respond to these by activating antioxidant defense mechanisms, de novo synthesis of optical screening compounds and heat-shock proteins as well as through morphological adaptation. This review summarizes the current knowledge on sunburn in grapes and compares it with relevant literature on other fruits. It also discusses the different factors affecting the appearance and degree of sunburn, as well as the biochemical response of grapes to this phenomenon and different potential mitigation strategies. This review proposes further directions for research into sunburn in grapes.

Anatomical studies on the movement of a xylem tracer dye were combined with functional studies on changes in grape berry volume during final stages of berry ripening to gauge xylem effectiveness. Movement of a xylem tracer dye into pre-veraison fruit was compared with movement into post-veraison fruit by feeding a solution of acid fuchsin to excised shoots with bunches still attached, and then sectioning fruit for photo-microscopy. Those comparisons confirmed published studies showing an apparent blockage to dye movement along major vessels within the brush tissue of post-veraison fruit. However, our functional approach yielded a different impression of vascular activity. A continuation of xylem transport in ripening fruit was inferred from comparisons of berry volume where pedicels were either girdled (phloem interrupted, but xylem intact) or excised (both phloem and xylem interrupted). Volume changes in manipulated berries were compared with immediately adjacent intact control berries within the same bunch. Control fruit lost volume subsequent to 78 days after flowering (DAF) while manipulated fruit lost volume from the first day of treatment at 67 DAF. By harvest time at 95 DAF, both control fruit and girdled fruit had fallen to 91% and excised fruit to 46% of maximum volumes recorded around 78 DAF. Berry volume loss in girdled fruit was further enhanced by deficit irrigation. We conclude that xylem flow into those Shiraz berries must have continued beyond veraison despite dye evidence of a vessel blockage within the brush region of analogous post-veraison fruit.