Estudio comparativo del potencial enológico de dos varietales tintos cultivados en la isla de Tenerife

Harvesting grapes at adequate maturity is key to the production of high-quality red wines. Enologists and wine makers define several types of maturity, including technical maturity, phenolic maturity and aromatic maturity. Technical maturity and phenolic maturity are relatively well documented in the scientific literature, while articles on aromatic maturity are scarcer. This is surprising, because aromatic maturity is, without a doubt, the most important of the three in determining wine quality and typicity (including terroir expression). Optimal terroir expression can be obtained when the different types of maturity are reached at the same time, or within a short time frame. This is more likely to occur when the ripening takes place under mild temperatures, neither too cool, nor too hot. Aromatic expression in wine can be driven, from low to high maturity, by green, herbal, fresh fruit, ripe fruit, jammy fruit, candied fruit or cooked fruit aromas. Green and cooked fruit aromas are not desirable in red wines, while the levels of other aromatic compounds contribute to the typicity of the wine in relation to its origin. Wines produced in cool climates, or on cool soils in temperate climates, are likely to express herbal or fresh fruit aromas; while wines produced under warm climates, or on warm soils in temperate climates, may express ripe fruit, jammy fruit or candied fruit aromas. Growers can optimize terroir expression through their choice of grapevine variety. Early ripening varieties perform better in cool climates and late ripening varieties in warm climates. Additionally, maturity can be advanced or delayed by different canopy management practices or training systems.

Wine dealcoholisation has been practised since the early 1900s and has gained importance due to climate change
and shifting consumer preferences for lower-alcohol beverages. Rising temperatures are accelerating grape
ripening, increasing sugar content and, consequently, raising the alcohol strength of wines.

La place prépondérante que prend le Massif Jurassien en Franche-Comté confère à la région un caractère montagneux qui a orienté l’agriculture vers l’élevage laitier. Cette vocation pastorale marquée et de rudes conditions climatiques sont à l’origine de la production, attestée depuis l’Antiquité, d’un fromage de réserve pour la longue période hivernale. Cette tradition fromagère, liée à des prairies naturelles, a perduré jusqu’à nos jours. La qualité et la spécificité du produit actuel, le fromage de Comté, ont été reconnues dès 1952 par l’attribution d’un label et dès 1958, par la reconnaissance d’un périmètre d’appellation d’origine contrôlée, l’A.O.C. Comté (fig. 1).

The grape maturation process is being affected by the consequences of global climate change and, as a result, there is a gap at harvest time between the technological maturity of grapes (mostly the concentration of sugar and acids) and its phenolic quality. Due to this gap, the wines elaborated using those grapes show a non-adequate phenolic composition, which results in defects on its color and astringency characteristics. Astringency is mainly related to the salivary protein precipitation because of the interaction not only with wine flavanols but also with other wine phenolics, such as flavonols or different pigments.

The increasing frequency of wildfires on the West Coast of the USA is seen as a significant risk for the grape and wine industry. Research has shown that perceived smoke impact in wines correlates with increases in volatile phenols (VPs) in grapes exposed to fresh smoke.