Terroir 2004 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Characterization of “territoires” throughout the production of wines obtained with withered grapes: the cases of “Terra della Valpolicella” (Verona) and “Terra della Valle del Piave” (Treviso) in Northern Italy

Characterization of “territoires” throughout the production of wines obtained with withered grapes: the cases of “Terra della Valpolicella” (Verona) and “Terra della Valle del Piave” (Treviso) in Northern Italy

Abstract

[English version below]

Dans la définition et la description d’un “territoire” (“terra” en italien), avec les facteurs du milieu et génétiques, un rôle important est joué par ceux agronomiques, techniques et de culture qui contribuent à caractériser le produit d’une zone spécifique. La production des vins obtenus à la suite d’une déshydratation partielle des raisins peut être considérée un intéressant exemple de caractérisation d’un «territoire». La Valpolicella, une région collinaire au nord-ouest de Vérone (Italie) est célèbre non seulement pour le vin qui porte le même nom, mais aussi pour le Recioto et l’Amarone qui sont obtenus à la suite d’une déshydratation des raisins en post-récolte. Le procédé de la déshydratation est obtenu avec des méthodes traditionnelles ou, plus récemment, avec de nouveaux systèmes de perte d’eau (intensité et vitesse) avec des conséquences sur la physiologie de la baie et les aspects qualitatifs du vin. Une comparaison entre une déshydratation rapide et une lente a été effectuée sur la variété Corvina et on reporte des données biochimiques et moléculaires liées à des paramètres qualitatifs (anthocyanine, resvératrol). Un deuxième exemple est représenté par la «Terra della Valle del Piave» et son vin Raboso Piave, souvent caractérisé par un goût assez désagréable dû aux polyphénols qui ne sont pas équilibrés et mûrs. L’application de la technique DMR (Doppia Maturazione Ragionata -Double Maturation Raisonnée) permet de résoudre ce problème: on reporte les données concernant l’effet de l’application de cette technique sur les propriétés organoleptiques du vin.

In the definition and description of a “territoire” (“terra”, in Italian), together with environmental and genetic factors, an important role is also played by agronomic, technical, and cultural aspects that contribute to characterize the produce of the specific area. The production of wines obtained following partial dehydration of harvested grapes may be considered as an interesting example of “territoire” characterization. Valpolicella, a hilly area North-West of Verona (Italy), is famous not only for its homonymous wine but also for the Recioto and Amarone that are obtained following dehydration of harvested grapes. The withering process is accomplished with traditional methods, or, in recent years, with new drying systems differently affecting the loss of water process (rate, intensity) with consequences on berry physiology and wine quality traits. Slow and rapid dehydration rates have been compared and some biochemical and molecular parameters linked to quality aspects (anthocyanins, resveratrol) have been monitored in the cv Corvina. A second example is represented by “Terra della Valle del Piave” and its Raboso wine, characterized by a strong and sometimes unpleasant taste, due to unbalanced polyphenol content. The application of the DMR technique (cluster bearing canes detached and berries allowed to over-ripen in the field) solves this problem: results concerning organoleptic evaluations of grapes and wines obtained using this technique are reported.

DOI:

Publication date: January 12, 2022

Issue: Terroir 2004

Type: Article

Authors

P. Tonutti (1), G. B. Tornielli (2), G. Cargnello (3)

(1) Department of Environmental Agronomy and Crop Science – University of Padova – Sede di Conegliano Viale XXVIII Aprile, 14, 31015 Conegliano – Treviso (Italy)
(2) CIVE – University of Verona Via della Pieve 64, 37029 San Floriano-Verona (Italy)
(3) SOC Tecniche Colturali – Istituto Sperimentale per la Viticoltura Viale XXVIII Aprile, 26 31015 Conegliano – Treviso (Italy)

Contact the author

Keywords

Over-ripening, dehydration techniques, post-harvest, organoleptic quality, sensory evaluation

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2004

Citation

Related articles…

Effect of regulated deficit irrigation regime on amino acids content of Monastrell (Vitis vinifera L.) grapes

Irrigation is an important practice to influence vine quality, especially in Mediterranean regions, characterized by hot summers and severe droughts during the growing season. This study focused on deficit irrigation regime influence on amino acids composition of Monastrell grapevines under semiarid conditions (Albacete, Southeastern of Spain). In 2019, two treatments were applied: non-irrigation (NI) and regulated deficit irrigation (RDI), watered at 30% of the estimated crop evapotranspiration from fruit set to onset of veraison. Grape amino acids content was analyzed by HPLC. Berries from non-irrigated vines showed higher concentration of several amino acids, such as tryptophan (73%), arginine (70%), lysine (36%), isoleucine (27%), and leucine (21%), compared to RDI grapes. Arginine is, together with ammonium ion, the principal nitrogen source for yeasts during the alcoholic fermentation; while isoleucine, tryptophan, and leucine are precursors of fermentative volatile compounds, key compounds for wine quality. Moreover, NI treatment increased in a 14% the total amino acids content in grapes compared to RDI treatment. The reported effects might be because yield was 70% higher in RDI vines than in the NI ones and, therefore, the sink demand was increased in the irrigated vines. In addition, NI vines suffered more severe water stress and it is known that the amino acids synthesis and accumulation can be influenced by the plant response to stress. According to the results, the irrigation regime showed effect on amino acids concentration in Monastrell grapes under semiarid conditions. Grapes from non-irrigated vines showed a higher content of several amino acids relevant to the fermentative process and to the wine aroma compounds formation. It is demonstrated that the final content of nitrogen-related components in grapes is influenced by the irrigation regime. The convenience of the irrigation strategy to suggest will depend on the desired wine style and the target yield levels.

Local ancient grapevine cultivars to face future viticulture

Among the different strategies to cope with the negative impacts of climate change on viticulture, the exploitation of genetic diversity is one of the most promising to adapt to new conditions and maintain wine production and quality. One of the biggest concerns in the context of climate change is to improve water use efficiency (WUE). In this way, the use of genotypes that present a better response to drought and high WUE is a key issue. In this work, physiological performance analysis was conducted to compare the water deficit stress (WDS) responses of local and widespread grapevines cultivars. Leaf gas exchange, water use efficiency (WUE) at different levels (leaf and long-term WUE (∆13C)), leaf osmotic adjustment and other water relations parameters were determined in plants under well-watered and WDS conditions alongside assessment of the levels of foliar hormones concentrations. Results denote that local cultivars displayed better physiological performance under WDS as compared to the widely-distributed ones. he results corroborate the hypothesis that better stomatal control allows increasing leaf WUE under drought as occurred in the local Callet cv.; but the minority local cultivar Escursac cv. showed high WUE under both treatments. In this case, high WUE can be related to maintaining higher photosynthetic activity under drought. The different mechanisms underlying the better performance under WDS and high WUE of minority local cultivars are discussed.

Assessment of the impact of actions in the vineyard and its surrounding environment on biodiversity in Rioja Alavesa (Spain)

Traditional viticulture areas have experienced in the last decades an intensification of field practices, linked to an increased use of fertilisers and phytosanitary products, and to a more intensive mechanization and uniformization of the landscape. This change in management has sometimes led to higher rates of soil erosion andloss of soil structure, fertility decline, groundwater contamination, and to an increased pressure of pests and diseases. Additionally, intensification usually leads to a simplification of landscapes, of particular concern in prestigious wine grape regions where the economical revenue encourages the conversion of land use from natural habitats to high value wine grape production. To revert this trend, it is necessary that growers implement actions that promote biodiversity in their vineyards. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of the implementation of cover crops, vegetational corridors, dry stone walls and vineyard biodiversity hotspots estimated through the study of arthropods. The work has been carried out in four vineyards in Rioja Alavesa belonging to Ostatu winery, where these infrastructures were implemented in 2020. The presence and diversity of arthropods was studied by capturing them at different times in the season and at different distances from the infrastructure using pit-fall traps in the soil and yellow, white and blue chromatic traps at the canopy level. This is a preliminary study in which all adult insects were sorted to the taxonomic level of order and Coleoptera were classified to morphospecies. The results obtained show that there is a relationship between the basic characteristics of the vineyard and the arthropods captured, with a positive effect, although also dependent on the vineyard, of the presence of infrastructure.

VINIoT – Precision viticulture service

The project VINIoT pursues the creation of a new technological vineyard monitoring service, which will allow companies in the wine sector in the SUDOE space to monitor plantations in real time and remotely at various levels of precision. The system is based on spectral images and an IoT architecture that allows assessing parameters of interest viticulture and the collection of data at a precise scale (level of grape, plant, plot or vineyard) will be designed. In France, three subjects were specifically developed: evaluation of maturity, of water stress, and detection of flavescence dorée. For the evaluation of maturity, it has been decided first to work at the berry scale in the laboratory, then at the bunch scale and finally in the vineyard. The acquisition of the spectral hyperstal image as well as the reference analyzes to measure the maturity, were carried out in the laboratory after harvesting the berries in a maturity monitoring context. This work focuses on a case study to predict sugar content of three different grape varieties: Syrah, Fer Servadou and Mauzac. A robust method called Roboost-PLSR, developed in the framework of this work (Courand et al., 2022), to improve prediction model performance was applied on spectra after the acquirement of hyperspectral images. Regarding the evaluation of water stress, to work with a significant variability in terms of water status, it has been worked first with potted plants under 2 different water regimes. The facilities have allowed the supervision of irrigation and micro-climatic conditions. The regression models on agronomic variables (stomatal conductance, water potential, …) are studied. To detect flavescence dorée, the experimental plan has consisted of work at leaf scale in the laboratory first, and then in the field. To detect the disease from hyper-spectral imaging, a combination of multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) and factorial discriminant analysis (FDA) was proposed. This strategy proved the potential towards the discrimination of healthy and infected leaves by flavescence dorée based on the use of hyperspectral images (Mas Garcia et al., 2021).

Local adaptation tools to ensure the viticultural sustainability in a changing climate

[lwp_divi_breadcrumbs home_text="IVES" use_before_icon="on" before_icon="||divi||400" module_id="publication-ariane" _builder_version="4.19.4" _module_preset="default" module_text_align="center" module_font_size="16px" text_orientation="center"...