TCA – A status report on South African cork closures

In a highly competitive worldwide market, a current challenge for the beverage sector is to diversify the range of products and to offer wines and spirits with typicity and character.

During alcoholic fermentation, wine yeasts generate a large variety of volatile metabolites, including acetate esters, ethyl fatty acid esters, higher alcohols, volatile fatty acids and volatile sulfur compounds that contribute to the aroma profile of wine. These molecules, refered as fermentative aromas, are the most abundant volatile compounds synthetized by yeasts and the metabolic pathways involved in their formation have been well characterized. Furthermore, other molecules with a major organoleptic impact may be produced during wine fermentation including terpene derivatives. However, little information is available on the contribution of yeasts to the formation of these molecules, in particular on their ability to synthethise de novo the terpens derivatives or to produce hydrolytic enzymes involved in the release of varietal precursors.

Grapevine naturally endures stresses like heat, drought, and hypoxia. A recent study showed very low oxygen levels inside grape berries, linked to ethanol content.

Viticultural management regimes influence the soil elemental profile of a vineyard, determining the microbial community distribution, insect life, and plant biochemistry and physiology

Increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) in vineyards enhances soil health with associated benefits for climate change resilience and mitigation.

In recent years several strategies have been proposed to cope with the effect of climate change on grape berry quality but only a few studies have dealt with the influence of management practices implemented in the field (e.g. irrigation,summer pruning, etc.), on the evolution of wines over time.