Mitigating grapevine winter damage in cold climate areas

Abstract

Growing grapes in cool climate areas is the same front type challenging due to the high risk of winter injury. Passive and active methods can be used to reduce or prevent cold damage and protect the vineyards. Passive protection methods are generally cultural practices and performed before cold damage events, such as cultivar and rootstock selection. The proper scion-rootstock combination would ideally help the vines acclimate earlier in the fall, allowing them to withstand colder weather in the fall and winter and de-acclimate later in the spring to minimise the late spring frost damage. The introduction of new North American hybrid cultivars accompanied with other cultural practices has increased the hope for developing viticulture in areas with lower cold hardiness zones. Furthermore, active protection methods are usually performed at the time of cold damage events to protect the vineyard by preventing or reducing the loss of thermal energy from vine tissues. The objective of this manuscript is to review the viticulture challenges in cold climates and mitigate the risks with Ontario, Canada as an example of a cold climate area.