Come proteggere un territorio viticolo: il punto di vista del giurista

The Ribera del Duero Designation of Origin (DO) has acquired great recognition during the last decades, being considered one of the highest quality wine producing regions in the world. This DO has grown from 6,460 ha of vineyards officially registered in 1985 to approximately 21,500 ha in 2013. The total grape production stands at around 90 million kg, with an average yield that approaches nearly 4,500 kg/ha. Most vineyards are cultivated under rainfed conditions.

During alcoholic fermentation, acetaldehyde is the carbonyl compound quantitatively the most produced by yeasts after ethanol. The dynamics of acetaldehyde production can be divided into 3 phases. Early formation of this compound is observed during the lag phase at the beginning of fermentation before any detectable growth [1].

Nitrogen composition of grape berries plays a key role in determining wine quality, affecting the development of alcoholic fermentation and the formation of volatile compounds. Grape nitrogen composition is influenced by several factors such as viticultural practices, soil management, timing or rate of fertilization and use of rootstock, among others.In this study a proximal, non-destructive tool based on NIR spectroscopy is presented to track the accumulation of a wide range of amino acids in intact grape berries during the ripening process.

During postharvest management, the metabolism of fruits remains active and continuous physico-chemical changes occur. Ozone treatment has an elicitor effect on secondary metabolites and the treatment conditions can influence the grape response to the stress (Bellincontro et al., 2017; Botondi et al., 2015). Regarding volatile organic compounds (VOCs), previous studies showed that ozone treatment during postharvest dehydration induces the biosynthesis of terpenes in Moscato bianco grapes (Río Segade et al., 2017). It is well known that grape VOCs greatly influence the organoleptic properties of wines, particularly terpenes in aromatic varieties.

Sixty five % of the agricultural area of the Basque Country located in the DO Ca Rioja corresponds to vineyards. More than 40% of it has an average slope greater than 10%, which makes it sensitive to erosive processes. Furthermore, it is foreseeable that extreme weather events (storms, hail, extreme heat and cold, etc.) will be favored due to climate change. Cover cropping can mitigate this risk, and therefore the objective of this work is to evaluate the impact that a vegetable cover has on the agronomic behavior of the vineyard, the quality of the grape and soil erosion. For this, a trial has been carried out with a Graciano variety vineyard with a slope between 10% -20% during the years 2020 and 2021. Conventional tillage management in the area has been compared (4-6 passes per year of tillage machinery) versus spontaneous vegetation cover management in the vineyard. This implies not tilling and allowing the grass of the land to colonize the range between the lines of vines, controlling their height through 1-3 mowing passes per year, always trying to affect the surface of the land as little as possible. The vegetative growth, yield and quality of the grape and wine was measured. Furthermore, erosion has been measured using Gerlasch boxes. The yield was lower in the second year of the trial in the cover crop treatment, but erosion was significantly reduced.