Utilización de los estudios detallados y muy detallados de suelos en la microzonificación vitícola

Anthocyanins and tannins contribute to important sensorial traits of red wines, such as color and mouthfeel attributes.

In the last few years the development of HPLC techniques together with multivariate statistical methods allowed to set methodics of large discriminant and classing efficacy in the study of wine-grapes.

Malic acid has a strong impact on wine pH and the contribution of fermenting yeasts to modulate its concentration has been intensively investigated in the past. Recent advances in yeast genetics have shed light on the unexpected property of some strains to produce large amounts of malic acid (“acidic strains”) while most of the wine starters consume it during the alcoholic fermentation. Being a key metabolite of the central carbohydrate metabolism, malic acid participates to TCA and glyoxylate cycles as well as neoglucogenesis. Although present at important concentrations in grape juice, the metabolic fate of malic acid has been poorly investigated.

To obtain a quality wine, it is necessary to collect grapes in an optimal state of maturation, so the control of the ripening process is fundamental for the viticulturist.

The terroir concept is presented as the basis of the A.O.C system, in the french vineyards. The “Anjou terroirs” programme aims at bringing the necessary scientific basisfor a rational and reasoned exploitation of the terroir. lt must lead to finalizing a lighter, more relevant integrated method of characterisation wich could be generally applied.