Vintage 2011 - Botrytis Bunch Rot in McLaren Vale

This season’s harvest was affected by Botrytis Bunch Rot, botrytis cinerea (and other Bunch secondary
moulds). There are two times when grapes are susceptible to botrytis infection at flowering, and at
ripening. Weather conditions during harvest were ideal for the development of bunch rot.

We can summarizes the conditions that suit botrytis as,

- High Humidity
- Leaf and bunch wetness
- Warm temperatures (20-24oC).

By looking at the weather conditions this season during those times we can look at why vintage 2011 was
heavily affected.

Flowering
All of South Australia had rainfall during spring. Even a small amount of rain or free moisture, allied with
high humidity can cause botrytis infection of grape vine flowers (below right).

Botrytis infection at flowering causes ‘latent

infection”. This infection lies latent as it
enters a resting stage until the berries ripen
providing a source of food for further growth.

The wet weather during flowering allowed

botrytis to be inside fruit lying dormant
waiting for sugar to develop.

This is not uncommon and occurs in many

seasons. What made this season different
was the weather during March saw this
‘latent’ botrytis develop into a full infection.
The wet weather at that time meant that
bunch rots were active at both flowering and
ripening.
March
Low levels of botrytis were seen
in some vineyards in early
March caused by some rain in
February. This level of botrytis
was fairly low and limited to
varieties with very tight
bunches.

Pictured left on March 20th is a

bunch of Riesling with an early
infection of botrytis. This
vineyard was assessed as
having 1.1% botrytis severity –
ordinarily we would consider
this was a low level and unlikely
to affect harvest.

Unfortunately the weather

conditions changed.

McLaren Vale had a three day rain event, from the 20th to the 23rd of March that produced long periods of
leaf wetness. Conditions
were warm and the wind
was still. Furthermore
heavy dews (right) were
experienced in many
locations which created
conditions inside the
grapevine canopy that
were warm, wet and
humid.

Download the March Weather Data here.

The steamy, wet weather caused low lying cloud to
shroud the valley.

Immediately after the rain event some Botrytis was

evident across the majority of vineyards.

After the rain it then became a case of how close

vineyards were to harvest ripeness. In hindsight we can
consider the district in 3 areas. 1- south of McLaren
Vale– 2- north of McLaren Vale and 3- McLaren Flat,
Blewitt Springs & Clarendon.
1 - McLaren Vale, Willunga & 2 - North of McLaren Vale

In generally little fruit was lost in these areas - some vineyards had already been harvested and were
unaffected, other were close to harvest and were immediately picked still in good condition with less than
1% bunch bot. Much of this fruit was A & B grade Shiraz and wineries looked to pick as much as they could
immediately. These vineyards were sitting around 12.5 – 13.5 baume when the rain occurred.

Initially the better C Grade Shiraz vineyards also held together us recording 1-5 single berries of bunch
infection, ie less than 2%. In vineyards that had a heavier canopy and where canopy manipulation,
irrigation management was not focused on Shiraz crops were immediately in trouble.

Grenache vineyards with tight bunches also showed significant botrytis after the March rain event.

At this point any berry damage by Light Brown Apple Moth caterpillars, Grapevine Weevil, Downy mildew
or Powdery mildew also increased the chances of seeing botrytis. All of these factors cause of damage to
berry skin tissue that weakens its natural defense against botrytis.

Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards also showed low levels of bunch rots and other weather related problems.
3 - McLaren Flat, Blewitt Springs & north to Clarendon
None of the red varieties were close to
harvest and all had to hold together into
April in order to be harvest ready – this
resulted in bunch rot levels building up.
Continued heavy dews into April kept
wetting up vineyard canopies and this lead
to the high humidity, warm temperature
conditions that favoured botrytis.

Left - The spores of the fungus show that

the recent conditions have been warm
and humid. The berries next to the
infection have gone slippery because the
enzyme, laccase, botrytis produces has
spread around the bunch.
April
Fruit that was to
be picked at the
start of April faced
a battle against
the affects of
botrytis’s enzyme,
laccase.

This enzyme
degrades the lignin
in the berry skin
and oxidizes the
red colour
pigments. Laccase
causes ‘slippery
skins’ left, which
was the main
reason fruit was
rejected during
April.

In wine, this enzyme causes a reaction that turns the wine brown and detrimentally affects it smell and
taste. Browning of the red pigments is caused by an oxidation reaction, which laccase ‘catalyses’ or speeds
up.

Laccase is a difficult problem for wine makers to manage as the enzyme can survive the fermentation
process, has low sensitivity to sulphur dioxide (this is added to many wines as a preservative) and thrives in
the natural pH of wine. This means the laccase enzyme will be present in the wine end product.

Download the April Weather Data here.

Conclusions
Many vineyards elected to spray either, conventional fungicides eg. Rovral, or the surface sterliants PMS or
Hydrogen Peroxide eg. Peratec. All of these options are only of marginal effectiveness when weather
conditions are wet.

The potential of getting botrytis is equally the weather, the canopy and bunch size you grow and what you
spray.

The weather events this season were

influenced by the La Niña effect, a
meteorological system controlled by the
temperature on either side of the Pacific
Ocean. When the sea temperature is up on
the western Pacific (near Australia), we get
wet seasons, like the 2010–11 one. When the
temperatures are down, we tend to have
drier summers. At the moment, the La Niña
effect is neutralising, meaning we are likely to
have ‘more-like average’ rainfall over winter.
The high rainfall season, with wet weather
both during flowering and critically during
harvest, caused widespread botrytis.
Early next season assess the weather conditions to determine the risk of bunch infection by botrytis in
particular. Sprays during flowering may be warranted but because the bunch rot organisms need warmth
and moisture for infection, they will not be a major problem next season if the weather stays dry.

Vineyards that grow big canopies, have big bunches, or are grown in areas without natural air movement
are most at risk of botrytis. We consider McLaren Vale C-Grade, or D-Grade Shiraz in this high risk
category.

Techniques that make vines have more open canopies which dry quicker, or produce thicker grape skins
are just as important as chemical application.