The study aims to propose collective strategic actions for family wineries, promoting their competitiveness and the valorization of territorial resources.

Downy mildew is one of the most important grapevine diseases, caused by the Oomycete Plasmopara viticola. The management of the disease in organic agriculture can require up to 15 copper applications per year. However, copper accumulates in the soil, is phytotoxic and is toxic for organisms living in the soil, its use has been restricted in European Union to maximum 28 kg in 7 years. Therefore, testing of alternatives with equal effectiveness is desirable. Among those, the natural biopolymer chitosan, obtained from crab shells, proved to be effective toward downy mildew in plot experiments. The aim of our trials was to extend chitosan applications in large scale experiments in different years, cultivars and environmental conditions.

Wine is a luxury product and a global beverage steeped in history and mystery. Over time, various regions have become renowned for the quality of wines they produce, which adds considerable value to the regions and the brands. On the whole, the international wine market is worth many hundreds of billions of dollars, which attracts unscrupulous operators intent on defrauding wine consumers.

Post-harvest grape berries dehydration/withering are worldwide applied to produce high-quality sweet and dry wines (e.i., Vin Santo, Tokaji, Amarone della Valpolicella). Temperature and water loss impact grape metabolism [1] and are key variables in modulating the production of grape compounds of oenological interest, such as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), secondary metabolites responsible for the aroma of the final wine.
The aim of this research was to assess the impact of post-harvest dehydration on free and glycosylated VOCs of two Italian red wine grapes, namely Nebbiolo and Aleatico, dehydrated in tunnel under controlled condition (varied temperature and weight-loss, at constant humidity and air flow). From these grapes Sforzato di Valtellina Passito DOCG and Elba Aleatico Passito DOCG, respectively.

INTRODUCTION: Foam stability of sparkling wines is significantly favored by the presence of surface active agents such as proteins and polysaccharides [1]. For that reason, the renowned sparkling wines are aged after the second fermentation in contact with the lees for several months (even years). Thereby wines are enriched in these macromolecules due to yeast autolysis. Since this practice is slow and costly, winemakers are seeking for alternative procedures to increase their concentration in base wines. In that sense, the supplementation with inactive yeast during alcoholic fermentation has been proposed [2]. The aim of this study was to determine whether this new strategy is really useful for enriching base wines in macromolecules and for improving foam properties of the base wines.