Viticultural practices to control the undervine environment have relied on chemical herbicides. Herbicides usage has resulted in resistance by weeds, alterations in soil environments, as well as not meeting the needs of the organic market. Consequently, black and white weedmat was utilized to manage the undervine area over multiple vintages and its influence on the resultant wines examined. Apart from a difference in juice soluble solids, there was no impact on grape yield. In the 2017 vintage, black weedmat wines had the largest variation in aromatic profile when compared to control; additionally white weedmat was more closely related to the control. These differences had disappeared in the 2018 vintage with all wines having similar aromatic profile concentrations. Trained sensory panel could not discriminate treatment effects on wine flavor and aroma for either vintage. Ultimately, these findings support the use of weedmats in the viticulture setting to eliminate herbicide usage.
Keywords: Aroma volatile compounds; Herbicide reduction; Sensory properties; Undervine treatment; Weedmat; Wine.
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