The relationships between variations in grapevine (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Pinot noir) growth and resulting fruit and wine phenolic composition were investigated. The study was conducted in a commercial vineyard consisting of the same clone, rootstock, age, and vineyard management practices. The experimental design involved monitoring soil, vine growth, yield components, and fruit composition (soluble solids, flavan-3-ol monomers, proanthocyanidins, and pigmented polymers) on a georeferenced grid pattern to assess patterns in growth and development. Vine vigor parameters (trunk cross-sectional area, average shoot length, and leaf chlorophyll) were used to delineate zones within both blocks to produce research wines to investigate the vine-fruit-wine continuum. There was no significant influence of vine vigor on the amount of proanthocyanidin per seed and only minimal differences in seed proanthocyanidin composition. However, significant increases were found in skin proanthocyanidin (mg/berry), proportion of (-)-epigallocatechin, average molecular mass of proanthocyanidins, and pigmented polymer content in fruit from zones with a reduction in vine vigor. In the wines produced from low-vigor zones, there was a large increase in the proportion of skin tannin extracted into the wine, whereas little change occurred in seed proanthocyanidin extraction. The level of pigmented polymers and proanthocyanidin molecular mass were higher in wines made from low-vigor fruit compared to wines made from high-vigor fruit, whereas the flavan-3-ol monomer concentration was lower.

The relationships between grapevine (Vitis vinifera) vigor variation and resulting fruit anthocyanin accumulation and composition were investigated. The study was conducted in a commercial vineyard consisting of the same clone, rootstock, age, and vineyard management practices. The experimental design involved assigning vigor zones in two vineyard sites based upon differences in vine growth. Fruits and wines were analyzed by HPLC from designated vigor zones in 2003 and 2004. Average berry weight (grams), average dry skin weight (milligrams), degrees Brix, and pH were higher and titratable acidity (grams per liter) was lower in 2003 compared to 2004. In 2003, only the highest and lowest vigor zones had differences in berry weight, whereas there were no differences in 2004. In both years, high vigor zones had lower degrees Brix and higher titratable acidity (milligrams per liter). Accumulation of anthocyanins (milligrams per berry) was greater in 2003 compared to 2004. There was a trend for lower anthocyanin concentration (milligrams per berry) in high vigor zones in both years. In 2004 compared to 2003, there was a higher proportion of malvidin-3-O-glucoside and lower proportions of the other four anthocyanins (delphinidin-, cyanidin-, petunidin-, and peonidin-3-O-glucosides) found in Pinot Noir. In both years, site A had proportionally higher peonidin-3-O-glucoside and lower malvidin-3-O-glucoside than site B. Some of these differences may be related to the higher exposure and temperatures found in site B compared to site A and also in the low vigor zones.

The effects of nitrogen (N) fertilizer application on plant growth, N uptake, and biomass and N allocation in highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L. ‘Bluecrop’) were determined during the first 2 years of field establishment. Plants were either grown without N fertilizer after planting (0N) or were fertilized with 50, 100, or 150 kg·ha−1 of N (50N, 100N, 150N, respectively) per year using 15N-depleted ammonium sulfate the first year (2002) and non-labeled ammonium sulfate the second year (2003) and were destructively harvested on 11 dates from Mar. 2002 to Jan. 2004. Application of 50N produced the most growth and yield among the N fertilizer treatments, whereas application of 100N and 150N reduced total plant dry weight (DW) and relative uptake of N fertilizer and resulted in 17% to 55% plant mortality. By the end of the first growing season in Oct. 2002, plants fertilized with 50N, 100N, and 150N recovered 17%, 10%, and 3% of the total N applied, respectively. The top-to-root DW ratio was 1.2, 1.6, 2.1, and 1.5 for the 0N, 50N, 100N, and 150N treatments, respectively. By Feb. 2003, 0N plants gained 1.6 g/plant of N from soil and pre-plant N sources, whereas fertilized plants accumulated only 0.9 g/plant of N from these sources and took up an average of 1.4 g/plant of N from the fertilizer. In Year 2, total N and dry matter increased from harvest to dormancy in 0N plants but decreased in N-fertilized plants. Plants grown with 0N also allocated less biomass to leaves and fruit than fertilized plants and therefore lost less DW and N during leaf abscission, pruning, and fruit harvest. Consequently, by Jan. 2004, there was little difference in DW between 0N and 50N treatments; however, as a result of lower N concentrations, 0N plants accumulated only 3.6 g/plant (9.6 kg·ha−1) of N, whereas plants fertilized with 50N accumulated 6.4 g/plant (17.8 kg·ha−1), 20% of which came from 15N fertilizer applied in 2002. Although fertilizer N applied in 2002 was diluted by non-labeled N applications the next year, total N derived from the fertilizer (NDFF) almost doubled during the second season, before post-harvest losses brought it back to the starting point.

The effects of 15N-labeled fertilizer applied to mature summer-bearing red raspberry (Rubus idaeus L. `Meeker') plants were measured over 2 years. Four nitrogen (N) treatments were applied: singularly at 0, 40, or 80 kg·ha-1 of N in early spring (budbreak), or split with 40 kg·ha-1 of N (unlabeled) applied at budbreak and 40 kg·ha-1 of N (15N-depleted) applied eight weeks later. Plants were sampled six times per year to determine N and 15N content in the plant components throughout the growing season. Soil also was sampled seven times per year to determine inorganic N concentrations within the four treatments as well as in a bare soil plot. There was a tendency for the unfertilized treatment to have the lowest and for the split-N treatment to have the highest yield in both years. N application had no significant effect on plant dry weight or total N content in either year. Dry weight accumulation was 5.5 t·ha-1 and total N accumulation was 88 to 96 kg·ha-1 for aboveground biomass in the fertilized plots in 2001. Of the total N present, averaged over 2 years, 17% was removed in prunings, 12% was lost through primocane leaf senescence, 13% was removed through fruit harvest, 30% remained in the over-wintering plant, and 28% was considered lost or transported to the roots. Peak fertilizer N-uptake occurred by July for the single N applications and by September for the last application in the split-N treatment. This uptake accounted for 36% to 37% (single applications) and 24% (last half of split application) of the 15N applied. Plants receiving the highest single rate of fertilizer took up more fertilizer N while plants receiving the lower rate took up more N from the soil and from storage tissues. By midharvest, fertilizer N was found primarily in the fruit, fruiting laterals, and primocanes (94%) for all fertilized treatments; however, the majority of the fertilizer N applied in the last half of the split application was located in the primocanes (60%). Stored fertilizer N distribution was similar in all fertilized treatments. By the end of the second year, 5% to 12% of the fertilizer acquired in 2001 remained in the fertilized plants. Soil nitrate concentrations increased after fertilization to 78.5 g·m-3, and declined to an average of 35.6 g·m-3 by fruit harvest. Seasonal soil N decline was partially attributed to plant uptake; however, leaching and immobilization into the organic fraction may also have contributed to the decline.

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