IVAS 2022 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 IVAS 9 IVAS 2022 9 The inhibition of hydrogen sulfide and methanethiol accumulation in wine by Cu(II): The influence of temperature on the duration of protection

The inhibition of hydrogen sulfide and methanethiol accumulation in wine by Cu(II): The influence of temperature on the duration of protection

Abstract

Hydrogen sulfide and methanethiol are recognised as two of the most significant contributors to reductive off-flavours in wine. Cu(II) in wine is known to interact with both sulfhydryl compounds, lowering the concentration of their aroma-active forms while transitioning Cu(II) to a sulfhydryl-bound form. Both hydrogen sulfide and methanethiol can form during the aging of wine in low oxygen conditions, such as during bottle aging, and
their production is known to be accelerated by wine storage temperature. Consequently, the protection offered by Cu(II) to inhibit accumulation of the reductive aroma compounds during bottle aging will be limited by the Cu(II) concentration at the bottling and of rate sulfhydryl compound formation. Although insights have been made on the typical rates of binding of Cu(II) in wines in cellar conditions (i.e., 14 °C), the impact of elevated storage
conditions is not certain, but likely to influence the duration of time that Cu(II) can inhibit reductive wine characters. This study determines the rates of Cu binding during the storage of wine at variable temperatures.

Four red and three white wines were bottled with low (< 0.2 mg/L) and high (0.6 mg/L) Cu(II) concentrations. The wines were stored at 14 °C and 40 °C and measured at 0, 1, 3, 7 and 12
months, and 0, 3, 5 and 12 days, respectively. The different forms of Cu were quantified by colorimetry for white wine, and stripping potentiometry for red wine, and enabled calculation of Cu(II) binding rates during wine aging and estimation of activation energies for binding. The formation of free and salt-releasable hydrogen sulfide and methanethiol were determined by gas chromatography with chemiluminescence detection.

The results showed that the rate of Cu(II) binding was dramatically higher at 40 °C than 14°C, with complete binding of Cu(II) in the order of 3 – 8 months and 1 – 5 days, respectively, for the wines bottled with high Cu(II). The relative order of Cu(II) binding rates amongst wines was temperature dependent, whereby Cu(II) binding rates became more uniform across wines when stored at the higher temperatures. This implied limitations in utilising high storage temperatures to predict Cu(II) binding at lower storage temperatures. The accumulation of the aroma active forms of sulfhydryl compounds, that is, the free hydrogen
sulfide and free methanethiol, only occurred after Cu(II) was converted to its bound form and then also required a further lag time. These results provide critical insights into the time-line of protection afforded to wines by Cu(II) against the emergence of reductive characters during bottle aging.

DOI:

Publication date: June 23, 2022

Issue: IVAS 2022

Type: Article

Authors

Zhang Xinyi1, Langford Kylie2 and Clark Andrew C1

1Gulbali Institute, Charles Sturt University, School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia
2Treasury Wine Estates, 97 Sturt Highway, Nuriootpa, SA 5355, Australia

Contact the author

Keywords

Copper, reduction, hydrogen sulfide, methanethiol, bottle-aging

Tags

IVAS 2022 | IVES Conference Series

Citation

Related articles…

The rootstock, the neglected player in the scion transpiration even during the night

Water is the main limiting factor for yield in viticulture. Improving drought adaptation in viticulture will be an increasingly important issue under climate change. Genetic variability of water deficit responses in grapevine partly results from the rootstocks, making them an attractive and relevant mean to achieve adaptation without changing the scion genotype. The objective of this work was to characterize the rootstock effect on the diurnal regulation of scion transpiration. A large panel of 55 commercial genotypes were grafted onto Cabernet Sauvignon. Three biological repetitions per genotype were analyzed. Potted plants were phenotyped on a greenhouse balance platform capable of assessing real-time water use and maintaining a targeted water deficit intensity. After a 10 days well-watered baseline period, an increasing water deficit was applied for 10 days, followed by a stable water deficit stress for 7 days. Pruning weight, root and aerial dry weight and transpiration were recorded and the experiment was repeated during two years. Transpiration efficiency (ratio between aerial biomass and transpiration) was calculated and δ13C was measured in leaves for the baseline and stable water deficit periods. A large genetic variability was observed within the panel. The rootstock had a significant impact on nocturnal transpiration which was also strongly and positively correlated with maximum daytime transpiration. The correlations with growth and water use efficiency related traits will be discussed. Transpiration data were also related with VPD and soil water content demonstrating the influence of environmental conditions on transpiration. These results highlighted the role of the rootstock in modulating water deficit responses and give insights for rootstock breeding programs aimed at identifying drought tolerant rootstocks. It was also helpful to better define the mechanisms on which the drought tolerance in grapevine rootstocks is based on.

Projected changes in vine phenology of two varieties with different thermal requirements cultivated in La Mancha DO (Spain) under climate change scenarios

The aim of this work was to analyze the phenology variability of Tempranillo and Chardonnay cultivars, related to the climatic characteristics in La Mancha Designation of Origin, and their potential changes under climate change scenarios. Phenological dates referred to budbreak, flowering, veraison and harvest were analyzed for the period 2000-2019. The weather conditions at daily time scale, recorded during the same period, were also evaluated. The thermal requirements to reach each of these phenological stages were calculated and expressed as the GDD accumulated from DOY=60. Changes in phenology were projected by 2050 and 2070 taking into account those values and the projected temperatures and precipitation, simulated under two Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios –RCP4.5 and RCP8.5– using an ensemble of models. The average phenological dates during the period under study were, April 16th ± 6.6 days and April 5th ± 6.0 days for budbreak, May 31st ± 6.0 days and May 27th ± 5.3 days for flowering, July 26th ± 5.6 days and July 25th ± 5.8 days for veraison, and Ago 23rd ± 10.8 days and Ago 17th ± 9.0 days for harvest, respectively, for Tempranillo and Chardonnay. The projected changes in temperature imply an average change in the maximum growing season (April-August) temperatures of 1.2 and 1.9°C by 2050, and 1.6 and 2.6°C by 2070, under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios, respectively. A reduction in precipitation is predicted, which vary between 15% for 2050 under RCP4.5 scenario and up to 30% by 2070 under RCP8.5. The advance of the phenological dates for 2050, could be of 6, 7, 7, and 8 days for Tempranillo and 4, 6, 6 and 9 days for Chardonnay, respectively for budbreak, flowering, veraison and harvest under the RCP4.5 scenario. Under the RCP8.5 emission scenario, the advance could be up to 30% higher.

The plantation frame as a measure of adaptation to climate change

The mechanization of vineyard work originally led to a reduction in planting densities due to the lack of machinery adapted to the vineyard. The current availability of specific machinery makes it possible to establish higher planting densities. In this work, three planting densities (1.40×0.80 m, 1.80×1 m and 2.20×1.20 m, corresponding to 8928, 5555 and 3787 plants/ha respectively) were studied with four varieties autochthonous of Galicia (northwestern Spain): Albariño and Treixadura (white), Sousón and Mencía (red). The vines were trained in a vertical shoot positioning system using a single Royat cordon, and pruned to spurs with two buds each. Agronomic data (yield, pruning wood weight, Ravaz index) and oenological data in must were collected. The higher planting density (1.40×0.80 m) had no significant effect on grape yield per vine in white varieties, although production per hectare was much higher due to the greater number of plants. In red varieties, this planting density resulted in a significantly lower production per vine, compensated by the greater number of plants. In addition, it significantly reduced the Brix degree in the must of the Albariño, Treixadura and Sousón varieties, and increased the total acidity in the latter two and Mencía. It also caused an increase in extractable and total anthocyanins and IPT in red grapes. The effects of high planting density on grapes are of great interest for the adaptation of varieties in the context of climate change. In the future, it could be advisable to modify the limits imposed by the appellations of origin on the planting density of these varieties in order to obtain more balanced wines.

A predictive model of spatial Eca variability in the vineyard to support the monitoring of plant status

[lwp_divi_breadcrumbs home_text="IVES" use_before_icon="on" before_icon="||divi||400" module_id="publication-ariane" _builder_version="4.19.4" _module_preset="default" module_text_align="center" module_font_size="16px" text_orientation="center"...

Green berries on Gewürztraminer (Vitis vinifera L.) in South Tyrol (Italy)

The grape variety Gewürztraminer is known to be affected by two physiological disorders namely berry shrivel and bunch stem necrosis. During the season 2014 we noticed a new symptomatology type of ripening disorder on the variety. The new symptom showed not all berries fallowing the normal maturation stages, but single berries remaining at a soft but green stage till harvest. The broad distribution of these so called “green berries” symptoms in different production sites of our region, caused huge damage due to the difficulty of eliminating single berries per bunch before harvesting. Therefore, the Research Centre Laimburg began to investigate the reasons and origins of this new symptom. This work shows the results of first attempts to find causes for the symptom as well as the resulting approach to mitigate symptoms. Applications of magnesium leaf fertilizer showed first promising results against this putative disorder. To study the causal effect of the green berries 30 symptomatic vineyards in 2014 have been selected for a monitoring during the season 2016. To evaluate the foliar nutrient treatment two vineyards have been selected for application of magnesium sulfate and magnesium chloride. Leaf and berry nutrient analysis, as well as the main quality parameters during ripening have been performed. As soon as “green berries” symptoms appeared, incidence and severity have been evaluated. Most of the symptomatic vineyards of the 2016 monitoring showed light to clear magnesium deficit symptoms on their foliage. Only during the seasons 2020 and 2021 “green berries” symptoms could be found in the leaf fertilizer treatment vineyards. Both seasons showed a significant effect of the magnesium treatments to reduce the incidence and severity of the symptom. It seems that the appearance of the “green berries” symptom on Gewürztraminer is correlated to a disturbed uptake of magnesium of the vines.