Antociani ed acidi cinnamici per la caratterizzazione di vitigni in zone diverse della Toscana

In classic red wine-making process, grapes are usually destemmed between harvest and the filling of the vat. However, some winemakers choose to let all or a part of the stems in contact with the juice during vatting, this is called whole bunch vinification. For instance, this practice is traditionally used in some French wine regions, notably in Burgundy, Beaujolais and the Rhone Valley. The choice to keep this part of the grape is likely to affect the sensory properties of wine, as its gustatory perception1,2.

On the market there are several wine grapes which are tolerant to the main fungal diseases. These varieties, commonly defined “resistant”, were developed in the grapevine breeding programs carried out mainly in Germany, France, Hungary and Italy. Some of these cultivars have been included in the national catalogues of wine grape varieties and have sometimes been allowed for specific kinds of wine. The VEVIR project, aimed at the enological evaluation of resistant vines, involves 33 cultivars achieved at the State Institute for Viticulture Freiburg in Germany, the Research Institute of Viticulture and Enology Pecs in Hungary and the Fondazione Edmund Mach S. Michele all’Adige (FEM) in Italy.

Terroir leaves its mark on the accumulation of flavours in grape berries, triggering biochemical re-actions and ultimately shaping wine styles.

In red wine production, phenolic maturity is becoming increasingly important. Anthocyanins, flavonoids and total polyphenols content and availability significantly influence the harvest time of wine grapes while, during vinification process, their extraction strongly affects wine body, color and texture

Vine water status was measured on 96 plots of three vines inside a vineyard block of 0.28 ha during three years: 2003, 2004 and 2005. Three physiological indicators were implemented: stem water potential, carbon isotope discrimination measured on grape sugars at ripeness (δ13C) and canopy temperature measured by high resolution remote sensing. For stem water potential, measurements were taken on every single vine of each plot.