Biochemical characterization of grape skin cell wall during ripening in relation to Botrytis cinerea susceptibility of two Champagne cultivars

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is a globally cultivated crop and economically significant, particularly in the wine industry (Varela et al., 2024). Climate change is already affecting vineyards and is expected to worsen (Averbeck et al., 2019; Dupuis and Knoepfel, 2011).

Regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) is a common viticultural practice for wine grape production. In addition to the potential improvement of water use efficiency, the adoption of this technique favors smaller canopies with higher levels of fruit sun exposure, enhancing quality attributes associated with red wine grapes such as smaller berries with higher tannins and anthocyanins. However, these quality attributes do not necessarily transfer to white wine grapes. The goal of this project was to assess whether partial rootzone drying (PRD) is more suited than RDI to grow high-end white wine grapes in arid climates, especially aromatic varieties, using Riesling as a model.

In the context of sustainable viticulture that implements organic practices to maintain soil fertility, green manuring plays a crucial role due to its ability to stock carbon and nitrogen in soil while supporting biodiversity.

Astringency is an important red wine quality attribute, which can be measured both chemically and sensorially. The use of tannin activity shows potential as a valuable chemical measurement in understanding red wine mouthfeel properties such as astringency and bitterness, which is also affected by tannin structural factors, in addition to matrix effects. Tannin activity is defined as the enthalpy of interaction between tannins and a hydrophobic surface. Studies involving tannin activity have been performed since the early 2010’s, but chemosensory studies used to evaluate how structure-activity relationships change across multiple, consecutive vintages are limited. The aim of this study is to investigate how tannin activity may be linked to red wine mouthfeel, and how all these variables may change according to wine age.

Wines expressing sensory characters that are representative of their varietal and geographical origins are highly sought after in today’s market. It is therefore of considerable technological interest to investigate the aromatic aspects of specific wines and to identify the odorous substances involved. This study investigated aroma chemical and sensory diversity of Durello DOC white