One or the other: under drought, grapevines do not express esca leaf symptoms

Global viticulture has seen decreases in fruit yield and vine longevity over the past two decades. Our understanding of the underlying causes is limited by the complex interactions among the different factors involved and the technical challenges that limit investigations of these interactions. In Bortolami et al. (2021a) we investigated the interaction between two main drivers of grapevine decline, drought and vascular disease (esca), monitoring esca leaf symptom development and vine physiology in Sauvignon blanc during both stresses. We found that drought conditions inhibited esca leaf symptom development revealing the key role of plant water status in esca pathogenesis and opening new perspectives into water use management in the context of climate change.