Just like at any other wine estate, our vines risk getting attacked by two types of this horrible fungal disease. It comes in the varieties of powdery and downy mildew.
Powdery mildew, also known as Oidium, can infect all green parts of the grapevine. Infection usually appears first on the underside of basal leaves as a white powder. Later on, the fungus can cause mottling, curling and withering of the leaves. Eventually, leaves dry out and drop off. Symptoms of infection on green shoots appear as dark brown to black lesions. On the canes, an old infection appears as reddish, brown areas. During the shoot period, petioles and other cluster parts can get infected, and berries are more likely to get infected 3-4 weeks after the bloom. An infection on the berries can appear as white and powdery, or dark and dusty. Powdery mildew can result in shrivelling or cracking of the berries, which then dry up or never get ripen.
The varieties that usually suffers from powdery mildew at Binivista are Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Chardonnay. To combat the powdery mildew we spray with mainly ozone and sulphur.
Here some grapes affected by powdery mildew:
Downy Mildew also attacks all green parts of the grapevine and is characterised by the presence of oily brown spots on the surface of leaves and white marks on the underside of the leaves, canes and bunches in periods of high humidity. It can cause significant impact on yield if control measures are not implemented. It can also cause leaves to drop off and berries to shrivel and crack if not treated in a timely matter.
The varieties that usually suffers from downy mildew at Binivista are Grenache, Giró Ros and Callet. To combat the powdery mildew we spray with mainly ozone and copper.
Here a vine which leaves have been affected by downy mildew:
Prevention is key. So we treat our vines in a preventive manner and depending on the weather we do it several times during the vegetative season.
