Viticulture, landscapes and the marketing of our wine

Grape downy mildew, caused by plasmopara viticola, is one of the main diseases affecting viticulture worldwide and its control usually relies on frequent sprays with agrochemicals. Grapevine varieties resistant to p. Viticola represent an effective solution to control downy mildew and reduce the environmental impact of viticulture. Loci of resistance to p. Viticola (Rpv) have been introgressed from wild vitis species and some of them, like Rpv1, Rpv3.1 and Rpv10, are currently the most utilized genetic resources in grape breeding.

Winemaking generates a significant amount of waste. Grape marc, the main solid residue, constitutes 20-25% of the pressed grapes and approximately 8-9 million tons are produced globally each year.

Le sol est un facteur important permettant la croissance de la vigne. Les propriétés physiques et chimiques, mais aussi microbiologiques ont une influence sur beaucoup des fonctions du sol comme la structure, le drainage, la fertilité, déterminant la vigueur des plantes et le potentiel œnologique des raisins.

Climate emergency is going to affect the agricultural suistainability, wine grapes being probably one of the crops more sensitive to environmental constraints. In this context, mitigation strategies such as the revalorization of agricultural wastes are paramount to cope with the current challenges. The use of organic mulches has been reported to reduce soil water evaporation and improve vine water status, reduce soil erosion, and increase soil organic matter with little impact on berry quality. However, less is known about their effects on the microbiote of vineyards.

Brandy de Jerez (BJ) is a spirit drink made exclusively from spirits and wine distillates and is characterized by the use of casks for aging that previously contained Sherries. The quality and sensory complexity of BJ depend on the raw materials and some factors: grape variety, conditions during processing the wine and its distillation, as well as the aging in the cask. Therefore, the original compounds of the grapes from which it comes are of great interest being in most cases the Airén variety. Their relationship with the quality of the musts and the wines obtained from them has been studied (1) and varies each year of harvest depending on the weather conditions (2).