The use of plant cover for soil protection in Mediterranean hillside vineyards may jeopardize the viability of crops due to the scarcity of water under semiarid conditions. Erosion control, soil characteristics and vineyard production were evaluated using three different treatments: (i) traditional tillage as the control group, (ii) soil covered by Brachypodium distachyon and (iii) soil covered by Secale cereale. Such plant cover for soil protection among woody crops is not frequent under semiarid conditions. Sediment yield and runoff were collected from nine (3 treatments  3 replications) plots of 2 m 2 . Soil moisture, organic carbon content and aggregate stability were measured for one year. Simulated rainfall on plots was used as a source of complementary data.A reduction of 50% in the production of the vineyard was noticed in the Brachypodium-treatment, probably due to the lower degree of soil moisture at 35 cm depth. Nevertheless, there was efficient erosion control and the soil's organic carbon content increased. The Secaletreatment produced more runoff than tillage treatment. Traditional tilling produced the greatest yield, though it is considered unsustainable in the long term for hillside vineyards, as it lost 1059 g m , compared to 62 and 70 g m À2 y À1 lost in soil covered with Secale and Brachypodium, respectively. A high variability was found in the runoff coefficient, which was usually less than 1% under moderate rainfall, although it reached 45% under extreme events.The blind tasting of wine showed a slight preference for wine produced on vines subject to the Secale treatment.

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<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Aims</strong>: We report the genetic, phenological, agronomic and ampelographic characterization of 27 minor grapevine accessions (<em>Vitis vinifera </em>L.) from the Balearic Islands (Spain). The influence of occasional climatic phenomena (hailstorm) and the ampelographer’s experience on these characteristics was studied.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Methods and results</strong>: In 2006 and 2007, grapevine accessions were analyzed using 57 OIV (Office International de la Vigne et du Vin) qualitative and quantitative descriptors and six microsatellite loci (SSR). Ampelography is a good preliminary technique for the identification of plant material, since the ampelographic description carried out showed a high degree of similarity between the repetitions of one single accession (higher than 90%), confirming the microsatellite results. The colour of the young leaf’s upper side (OIV-051), the juiciness of the flesh (OIV-232) and the firmness of berry flesh (OIV-235) were the most difficult characters to distinguish by ampelographers. In spite of the greater similarity found among the varieties studied, there were a few strong discriminant characters (OIV-225, OIV-084, OIV-053, and OIV-004). In addition, the ampelographic descriptions, agronomic parameters and phenology were influenced by hailstorm.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Conclusions</strong>: The combination of morphological and molecular characterizations of 27 accessions collected in the Balearic Islands (Spain) allowed their classification into 17 different vine varieties. The genetic analysis identified Beba blanca as a possible somatic mutant derived from Beba roja. The hailstorm increased the vegetative period and mostly affected mature leaves, bunches, agronomic characteristics and must composition.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Significance and impact of the study</strong>: The present work characterizes, for the first time, the ampelographic and molecular profiles of these minor varieties. It is provide agronomic information about old cultivars never published before which could be interesting for the grape growers.</p>