Non Saccharomyces wine yeasts: emerging trends and challenges in winemaking

The quality of grapevines measured by yield and must density in the northern part of Europe conditons can be characterized as a type of “cool climate” – vary strongly from year to year and from one production site to another. One hundred year observations in Johannisberg from 1890 to 1991 demonstrate for the yield formation a clear dependancy from the year combined with a steady increase in productivity; latter a proof of positive clonal selection efforts.

Les études d’impact du climat sur la vigne nécessite de descendre à des échelles très fines car les facteurs climatiques sont tributaires de la topographie, la végétation, les expositions … Dans le cadre du programme ANR-JC Terviclim, 22 capteurs ont été installés dans les vignobles des Coteaux du Layon afin de caractériser le climat particulier de ces terroirs. L’analyse des températures montre de fortes disparités entre les data loggers et pourtant situés parfois sur les mêmes parcelles ou sur des parcelles voisines. Les indices bioclimatiques tels les degrés jours sont également contrastés suivant la situation des capteurs sur les coteaux.

Introducing natural ingredients using green chemistry practices is a major challenge in cosmetics industry to follow the market trend. Among the plants of cosmetic interest, vine products show a remarkable diversity of natural substances with high potential for the cosmetic and dermatological sectors. To date, research focuses on well-known compounds like E-resveratrol and E-ε-viniferin,

Vitis vinifera L. and other Vitis have high genetic variations for cultivars or varieties. Many countries carried out strong efforts creating new clones of varieties, mainly focusing on plants free of viruses and other grapevine diseases, but also on different agronomical and enological characteristics of the plants. The aim of this study was to evaluate six clones of Merlot in the traditional viticulture of southeastern Brazil, focusing on distinct characteristics of yield, enological potential of grapes and wine typicality, in order to improve wine quality.

A relevant trend in winemaking is to reduce the use of chemical compounds in both the vineyard and winery.