Timely launch of Bordeaux’s mildew plan to the tune of €500,000

he technical committee at Bordeaux’s wine marketing council CIVB remembers only too well the virulent onslaught of mildew in 2018 and 2020 and since 2022 has been finalising its research blueprint to combat Plasmopara viticola. The plan has now been completed, coinciding with the spread of the fungus to 90% of Bordeaux vineyards this summer, with one in two clusters affected according to the chamber of agriculture. Mildew has been particularly virulent this year, attacking both leaves and grapes with a forcefulness that is seldom seen. According to the director of the CIVB’s technical service, Marie-Catherine Dufour, this requires new expertise.

The mildew plan has received €500,000 in funding and revolves around a call for expression of interest that will ultimately lead to the selection of research projects next September. Already, 80 experts – grape growers, consultants, researchers etc – have joined the scheme which aims to plug the gaping gaps left during this year’s growing season. It appears that there were holes in the net between the topics of research and the needs of winegrowers, comments Dufour, who stresses that there is a misunderstanding of the biological mechanisms of mildew. “The insight is a century old”. Although the first phase of the mildew cycle is well-known, the winter phase is much less understood, claims the expert.