Potential deacidifying role of a commercial chitosan: impact on pH, titratable acidity, and organic acids in model solutions and white wine

The definition of terroir has evolved throughout history, from something clearly negative in the XVIth-XVIIIth century to a complex multi-parametric construct with positive connotations but also with many scientific unknowns. Terroir has always been linked more or less explicitly to the sensory properties of the resulting products.

En France, la filière A.O.C. cidricole emploie de plus en plus de levures initialement sélectionnées pour les fermentations des vins. Le risque d’une uniformisation organoleptique ou d’un marquage

AIM The main lead exposure route is the intake of contaminated food, water, and alcoholic beverages, in particular wine. At the gastric level, Pb is transformed into a soluble compound which, when conveyed into the bloodstream, is the long-term cause of saturnism, intoxication with neurotoxic, nephrotoxic and hematopoietic effects, and with the neurological developmental delay of children. Pb is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a 2A class, possible carcinogenic to humans. In an opinion on possible health risks, CONTAM considered that cereals, vegetables, drinking water, and wine give a greater contribute to dietary exposure to Pb in Europe. Large quantities of wine, beer, and other alcoholic products drinking can increase daily Pb intake above the maximum permitted levels.

An undesirable note called “floral taint” has been observed in red wines by winemakers in the Niagara region caused by large volumes of frozen leaves and petioles [materials-other-than-grapes (MOG)] introduced during mechanical harvest and subsequent winemaking late in the season. The volatiles, which we hypothesized are responsible, are primarily terpenes, norisoprenoids, and specific esters in frozen leaves and petioles. The purpose of this study was to investigate the volatile compounds which may cause the floral taint problem and explore how much of them (thresholds) may lead to the problem. Also, the glycosidic precursors of some of these compounds were analyzed to see the changes happening during frost events.

Traditional viticulture areas have experienced in the last decades an intensification of field practices, linked to an increased use of fertilisers and phytosanitary products, and to a more intensive mechanization and uniformization of the landscape. This change in management has sometimes led to higher rates of soil erosion andloss of soil structure, fertility decline, groundwater contamination, and to an increased pressure of pests and diseases. Additionally, intensification usually leads to a simplification of landscapes, of particular concern in prestigious wine grape regions where the economical revenue encourages the conversion of land use from natural habitats to high value wine grape production. To revert this trend, it is necessary that growers implement actions that promote biodiversity in their vineyards. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of the implementation of cover crops, vegetational corridors, dry stone walls and vineyard biodiversity hotspots estimated through the study of arthropods. The work has been carried out in four vineyards in Rioja Alavesa belonging to Ostatu winery, where these infrastructures were implemented in 2020. The presence and diversity of arthropods was studied by capturing them at different times in the season and at different distances from the infrastructure using pit-fall traps in the soil and yellow, white and blue chromatic traps at the canopy level. This is a preliminary study in which all adult insects were sorted to the taxonomic level of order and Coleoptera were classified to morphospecies. The results obtained show that there is a relationship between the basic characteristics of the vineyard and the arthropods captured, with a positive effect, although also dependent on the vineyard, of the presence of infrastructure.