Aerial image analysis was utilised to predict dormant pruning weights between two growing seasons. We utilised an existing in-row spacing trial in order to examine the relationship between dormant pruning weights and remotely sensed data. The experimental vineyard had a constant between-row spacing (2.44 m) and five different in-row spacings (0.91, 1.52, 2.13, 2.74 and 3.35 m) resulting in spatial variation in canopy volume and dormant pruning weights (kg/metre of row). It was shown that the ratio vegetation index (NIR/R) was linearly correlated with field-wide measurements of pruning weight density (dormant pruning weight per metre of canopy) for both the 1998 and 1999 growing seasons (r 2 = 0.68 and 0.88, respectively). Additionally, it was shown that the regression parameters remained consistent between the two growing seasons allowing for an inter-annual comparison such that the vegetation index vs canopy parameter relationship determined for the 1998 growing season was used to predict field-wide pruning weight densities in the 1999 growing season prior to harvest.

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Cluster tightness was measured and Botrytis bunch rot was evaluated for six Chardonnay clones in each of two trials, one cane-pruned and the other spur-pruned. In both locations, University of California (UC) Foundation Plant Materials Service (FPMS) clone 4 was most compact and FPMS 15 was the least compact (P < 0.01). Cluster tightness among the six clones, measured by the UC Firmness Tester Method, ranged from 0.0028 newtons (N) for clone 15 to 0.0112 N for clone 4. Cluster tightness was positively correlated with cluster weight. Botrytis bunch rot development was greater in the cane-pruned trial than in the spur-pruned trial. In the cane-pruned trial, disease incidence was greatest in FPMS 16 (81.5%) and least in clone 15 (44.5%; P< 0.025), while disease severity did not differ significantly. Neither incidence nor severity were significant in the spur-pruned trial. Clone 15, the clone with the least compact clusters, had the lowest disease severity levels.

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