Multisensory experiential wine marketing

In this video recording of the IVES science meeting 2024, Mariona H Gil i Cortiella (Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Santiago de Chile, Chile) speaks about the impact of type of winemaking vessel on the chemical composition and sensory attributes of Sauvignon blanc wines. This presentation is based on an original article accessible for free on IVES Technical Reviews.

There is an urgent need in viticulture to adopt alternative herbicide-free soil management strategies to mitigate climate change, increase biodiversity, reduce plant protection products and improve soil quality while minimizing detrimental effects on grapevine’s stress tolerance and fruit quality. To propose sustainable solutions, adapted to different pedoclimatic conditions in Switzerland, we developed a multidisciplinary 4-year project, started in 2020. Objectives of the project are to a) evaluate the impact of green covers (spontaneous flora, winter cover crop and permanent ground cover) on environmental and agronomic parameters and b) develop subsequently innovative strategies for different viticultural contexts of Switzerland. The project is divided into 3 phases: 1) diagnosis, 2) on-farm and 3) on-station experiments. Phase 1) consisted in an assessment of 30 commercial vineyards all over Switzerland, where growers already use different herbicide-free soil management strategies. The most promising practices identified in this exploratory phase will be replicated in commercial vineyards across Switzerland (“on-farm”) as well as in a classical randomized block design in an experimental plot (“on-station”). For phase 1), measurements consisted in evaluation of soil status (compaction, structure, roots development), soil microbial diversity (metagenomics), plant diversity and biomass, vine physiology (water stress, vigor, leaf nitrogen) and berry quality (acidity, sugar, available nitrogen). Interestingly, the permanent ground cover resulted in a higher Shannon index thus a higher biodiversity as compared to the other itineraries. The winter cover crop increased vine nitrogen and vigor while deteriorating soil quality, leaving the soil more exposed and compacted likely due to more frequent tillage. The spontaneous flora led to higher berry sugar accumulation, less nitrogen and higher malic acid concentration putatively due to a higher water retention of the flora in a particularly wet vintage. Phases 2) and 3) are required to confirm those tendencies, over the 3 next vintages and different climatic conditions.

We must state that two conditions above are only prevalent in the case when the processed grapes are full or over ripened, besides following the Tokaj wines preparation criterions (grape variety, soil, microclimate, vintage, etc.). These two conditions mentioned before were followed up only sensory based analysis up to now, altough the study of chemical idetified compounds which confirms these are obviuos.

UNESCO World Heritage as the link, Europe as the area covered. VITOUR network is born on this idea, on Loire Valley Mission and InterLoire’s initiative. It gathers vineyards inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage List.

Driven by the demand for sustainable agriculture, biocontrol is emerging as a crucial alternative to chemical fungicides for crop protection.