Soil survey and chemical parameters evaluation in viticultural zoning

Nowadays there are many challenges facing both winegrowers and workers, in other agricultural practices, related to the growing demand for food products, the safety and quality of these products, and the preservation of the environment…

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the most commonly used yeast species in winemaking. The recent research showed that non-Saccharomyces yeasts as fermentation starters show numerous beneficial features and can be utilized to reduce wine alcoholic strength, regulate acidity, serve as bioprotectants, and finally improve wine aromatic complexity. The majority of published studies on this topic investigated the influence of sequential or co-inoculations of non-Saccharomyces and S. cerevisiae yeasts on the aroma of final wine.

3-Mercaptohexanol (3MH) is a volatile thiol occurring in several white and red wines, where it can contribute to fruity attributes. Its content is typically high in wines from certain grape varieties, in particular Sauvignon blanc, where it is considered a varietal marker. The strong nucleophilic character of thiols makes 3MH rather unstable during wine storage, due to the presence of several strong electrophilic species. Among these electrophilics, those arising from the oxidation of flavan3-ols such as catechin and epi-catechin have been indicated as critical for 3MH stability. Accordingly, there is a generalized interest towards the ability of vinification practices to reduce 3MH loss during aging through the management of wine flavan-3-ols content.

Viticulture is a major contributor to the antagonism of positive reputation and negative environmental impacts of agriculture. Vine contributes to structure landscape in the world, resulting, for example, in the delimitation of protected designations of origin (PDO). PDO vine is currently subject to the double challenge of sustainability and climate change adaptation. As vine is very sensitive to diseases and pests, vine requires a high use of pesticides to achieve its quality and yield goals. This high need for pesticides is the most important negative impact of environmental components.

The use of oenological tannins during winemaking has been mostly studied for improving colour traits and stability on red wines. Their effectiveness mainly depends on the tannin composition, grape variety and winemaking approach [1].