How do we describe wine imagery? Expertise shapes language usage and multimodal imagery for wine

Heatwaves or extreme heat events can be particularly harmful to agriculture. Grapevines grown in the Douro winemaking region are particularly exposed to this threat, due to the specificities of the already warm and dry climatic conditions. Furthermore, climate change simulations point to an increase in the frequency of occurrence of these extreme heat events, therefore posing a major challenge to winegrowers in the Mediterranean type climates. The current study focuses on the application of the STICS crop model to assess the potential impacts of heatwaves in grapevine yields over the Douro valley winemaking region. For this purpose, STICS was applied to grapevines using high-resolution weather, soil and terrain datasets over the Douro. To assess the impact of heatwaves, the weather dataset (1989-2005) was artificially modified, generating periods with anomalously high temperatures (+5 ºC), at certain onset dates and with specific durations (from 5 to 9 days). The model was run with this modified weather dataset and results were compared to the original unmodified runs. The results show that heatwaves can have a very strong impact on grapevine yields, strongly depending on the onset dates and duration of the heatwaves. The highest negative impacts may result in a decrease in the yield by up to -35% in some regions. Despite some uncertainties inherent to the current modelling assessment, the present study highlights the negative impacts of heatwaves on viticultural yields in the Douro region, which is critical information for stakeholders within the winemaking sector for planning suitable adaptation measures.

1,1,6-Trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene (TDN) is a controversial aroma component found in Riesling wines. It belongs to the family of C13-norisoprenoids and is mainly associated with kerosene/petrol notes. TDN can add complexity to the wine aroma at medium – low concentrations and deteriorate the wine bouquet when its content is high. No TDN aromas are usually perceived in young Riesling wines, but they can appear after several years of aging due to the gradual formation of TDN. Management of TDN in Riesling wines is an actual task, since global warming can promote formation of this compound and compromise the aromatic composition of wine. Therefore, the aim of the current work was, firstly, to study the sensory particularities of TDN in Riesling wine at various concentrations. Secondly, to investigate the ability of bottle closures to absorb (scalp) TDN from Riesling wine under various storage conditions. These studies also include the comparative assessment of our findings with previously published data. METHODS: sensory analysis, GC-MS (SBSE), HPLC,1H-NMR and other methods related to the synthesis and determination of TDN. RESULTS: First of all, the method of the synthesis of highly purified TDN (95% and 99.5%) was optimized [1].

Condensed tannins (CTs), polymers of flavan-3-ols, are a class of polyphenolic compounds that play a significant role in the organoleptic qualities of red wines, particularly influencing color, astringency and bitterness. These properties are highly dependent on size and structure of these compounds.

The microbial composition of the soil is an important factor to consider in viticulture, since its influence on the “terroir” and on the organoleptic properties of the wine have been demonstrated. Different agronomic techniques have the potential to modify the composition and functionality of the soil microbial community. Maintaining green covers is known to increase soil microbial diversity. The direct application of inoculum of beneficial microorganisms to the soil has also been used to increase their abundance. However, the environmental conditions of each site seem to have a determining weight in the result of these practices. In this study, we compared the effect on the microbial community of a cover crop with legumes in autumn and the inoculation of grapevines with commercial inoculum bases on Rhizophagus irregularis and Funeliformis mosseae in the previous spring. The study has been carried out in a vineyard in Binissalem, Mallorca, Spain. After applying the treatments, we will analyze the soil microbial communities using the data obtained from Illumina amplification of soil DNA from the 16S and ITS regions to analyze bacteria and fungi community, respectively. In addition, we will record the physicochemical characteristics of the soil at each sampling point. The result showed that agronomic management, in the short term, has less influence than soil characteristics on the composition of the soil microbiome. With these results, we can conclude that in a vineyard, agricultural techniques should focus on improving the characteristics of the soil to improve the biodiversity of the soil microbiota.

The main objective of the work was to develop a simple, robust and selective analytical tool that allows predicting the authenticity of Tempranillo wines from DOCa Rioja. The techniques of voltammetry and absorbance-transmission and fluorescence excitation emission matrix (A-TEEM) spectroscopy have been applied in combination with machine learning (ML) algorithms to classify red wines from DOCa Rioja according to region (Alavesa, Alta or Oriental) and category (young, crianza or reserva).