Territorio e vino tra immagine e comunicazione

Viticulture is exposed to a range of new stressors, that are challenging its sustainability and disrupting famous and well-established production regions. Steady increase of average temperature, recurring heat waves, altered rainfall seasonal distribution, drought spells, increased pathogens pressure, they all mix up with increased frequency, making every growing season a special challenge and calling for new approaches to cope with worrying scenarios.

Adapting viticulture to climate change is crucial, as it presents significant challenges for future grape production.

Chemical studies aiming at assessing how a wine reacts towards oxidation usually focus on the characterization of wine constituents, such as polyphenols, or oxidation products. As an alternative, the key oxidation intermediate hydrogen peroxide H2O2 has never been quantified, although it plays a pivotal role in wine oxidation. H2O2 is obtained from molecular oxygen as the result of a first cascade of oxidation reactions involving metal ions and polyphenols. The produced H2O2 then reacts in a second cascade of oxidation to produce reactive hydroxyl radicals that can attack almost any chemical substrate in wine.

Cu organic acid complexes efficiently bind hydrogen sulfide in wine and therefore prevent its accumulation and subsequent reductive off-flavour [1]. This fraction of Cu can also bind methanethiol

Context and purpose of the study. Climate change is a major challenge in wine production. It results in erratic weather conditions which may lead to a reduction in grape yield and the subsequent grape and wine quality.