DeepDrop® System

Vineyard Irrigation

Moderate water deficit in the vineyard can favor grape quality, since stress has more influence on vegetative growth than on berry development.

If the plant absorbs a large amount of water during ripening, the fruit loses its concentration of sugars, tannins and its natural alcohol content.

This consideration has led to the development of strategies that pursue controlled deficit irrigation (CDI), whose objective is to restrict water in certain phases of the cycle, mostly between fruit set and veraison, in order to regulate berry size.

The level of water stress, corresponding to the water potential, must be adapted to the type of wine desired, since the increasing gradient of water stress leads to the production of wine, ranging from herbaceous and acidic, when there is no stress, through fruity and tannic, when the stress is moderate, to highly alcoholic and astringent, when the stress is extreme.

Irrigation management cannot be the same for different vineyards, since the irrigation strategy to be applied must take into account the type of grape and wine to be produced; these irrigation data would be indicated for table grapes, an irrigation without stress.