Genotype-environment interaction of three cultivars of vitis vinifera L. cultivated in two different environments of the Ischia island: effect on production and quality; aspects of the quality of the obtained wines

This study used climatic and topographic data to characterize the sub-appellations that have been recently delineated in the Niagara Peninsula viticulture area in order to assess their potential for ripening early to late season Vitis vinifera varieties. No major differences were found in the ripening-period mean temperatures, but major differences in the diurnal temperature ranges were observed.

Forest fires in the vicinity of vineyards have significantly increased in the last decade and are a concern for grapegrowers and winemakers in many wine producing countries. The fires cause smoke drift throughout vineyards which cannot be avoided and may result in the production of wines described as ‘smoke tainted’. Such wines are characterized by undesirable sensory characters described as ‘smoky’, ‘burnt’, ‘ash’ aromas and flavours, and also may cause a lingering, unpleasant ashy aftertaste [1; 2].

Grapevine cultivars are vegetatively propagated to maintain their varietal characteristics. This process of multiplication leads to spontaneous somatic mutations that can eventually generate a variant phenotype, of potential interest for cultivar improvement and innovation. However, regardless their phenotypic effect, somatic mutations stack in the genome, and they can be used to reveal the origin and dissemination history of ancient cultivars. Here, a stringent somatic variant calling over whole genome resequencing data from 35 ‘Tempranillo Tinto’ clones or old vines from seven Iberian winemaking regions revealed 135 single nucleotide variations (SNVs) shared by some of the clonal lines.

The interaction between mannoproteins and wine phenolic compounds is a subject of great interest as some studies show the possible impact in color stability and an improvement in the sensory characteristics namely the reduction of red wine astringency.

The present work contributes by developing a rapid sensory-directed methodology for the screening and selection of high quality wines with different sensory profiles Therefore, Verdejo and Tempranillo musts were fermented with 50 different yeasts each under controlled laboratory conditions. Resulting samples were firstly categorized according to five levels of quality by a panel of wine professionals (Sáenz-Navajas, Ballester et al. 2013). Higher quality samples were described by flash profiling by a semi-trained panel
(Valentin, Chollet et al. 2012) and most distinctive samples were screened by gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) (López, Aznar et al. 2002).