Irrigation of an established vineyard with winery cleaning agent solution (simulated winery wastewater): Vine growth, berry quality, and soil chemistry

The ability to use winery wastewater (WW) for irrigation purposes could be a beneficial to the wine industry. A major difficulty in studying WW use is its inconsistent availability and composition. As such, we applied four simulated WWs composed of salts from two main industrial cleaning agents, and a control to 12-year-old ‘Syrah’ (clone 99, 3309C rootstock; Vitis riparia×V. rupestris). Briefly, the treatments simulated wineries utilising a sodium (Na) based cleaner; a potassium (K) based cleaner; a K based cleaner coupled with higher water use efficiency, resulting in a higher K concentration; and a combination of elevated K levels with the presence of wine, to consider the potential synergistic/antagonistic effects of the salts and organic matter. Soil salt concentrations increased consistently with the nature of the treatment applied, with K and Na treatments causing increased soil K and Na, respectively. Analysis of salt accumulation at various depths indicated that Na was more mobile in soils; however, the addition of wine to irrigation water enhanced K transport to the subsurface. Petiole concentrations of K and Na were approximately three-fold and nine-fold greater in the K and Na treatments than control. Attributes related to berry and juice quality differed among treatments at both véraison (juice K and anthocyanin concentrations) and harvest (juice Na, juice K, total phenolics, berry weight, and harvest weights), although the majority of these were slight, and therefore unlikely to have significant impact on wine quality. Based on the data collected, occasional irrigation with these simulated WWs appears to have had minimal impact on established vines. Nonetheless, there is potential for greater impacts to occur over longer time periods due to the perennial nature of grapevines and accumulation of salts in the soil.