IVAS 2022 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 IVAS 9 IVAS 2022 9 A first look at the aromatic profile of “Monferace” wines

A first look at the aromatic profile of “Monferace” wines

Abstract

Grignolino, is a native Piedmont grape variety which well represents the historical and
enological identity of Monferrato, a territory between Asti and Casale Monferrato, included in the World Heritage List designated by UNESCO (1). Numerous documents trace its cultivation back to the early Middle Age. Until the mid-1900s Grignolino was considered a fine wine valued as much as Barolo and Barbaresco for its quality, finesse, and unique characteristics (2). Today the young and “easy” version of this wine is the best known and appreciated for a pale ruby red color with tints that rapidly tend to orange, high acidity, with distinct tannins. However, some local wine producers, the Monferace association, in order to revive the ancient glories of Grignolino, have decided to produce an aged version of this wine. For this purpose, they have drawn up production guidelines that require at least 40 months of ageing, 24 of which in oak barrels.
In order to characterize Monferace, for the first time, from an aromatic point of view, 2012 (four years of ageing) and 2015 (two years of ageing) wines were analyzed. Their aromatic composition was evaluated using SPE-GC-MS methods and sensory analysis (3). The most important volatile compounds identified in these wines belong to the class of lactones, hydroxybenzaldehydes, phenols, short and medium chain fatty acids and their ethyl esters. Moreover, traces of some isoprenoid compounds were detected. Results highlighted a composite and rich aromatic profile, typical of wines characterized by great structure and complexity. From an olfactory point of view Monferace differs significantly from the more
widespread, and not aged, Grignolino wines. The former shows important notes of wood, boisée, floral, cherry, berries, caramel and spice, the latter is characterized by notes of violet, rose, raspberry, pepper, currant, cherry, resinous and vegetable. Statistical analysis showed a good correlation between the main olfactory descriptors identified in the wines and key aroma compounds measured in the same samples.

References

1) UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato. Available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1390/
2) Desana, P. Barbesino and Grignolino wines in the grape-wine history of Monferrato. Studying 12th century documents. 1980, Vignevini. 7(12) p. 15-17.
3) Petrozziello, M., Bonello, F., Asproudi, A., Nardi, T., Tsolakis, C., Bosso, A., Martino, V. D., Fugaro, M., & Mazzei, R. A. (2020). Differences in xylovolatiles composition between chips or barrel aged wines: OENO One, 54(3), 513–522. https://doi.org/10.20870/oeno-one.2020.54.3.2923

DOI:

Publication date: June 24, 2022

Issue: IVAS 2022

Type: Poster

Authors

Petrozziello Maurizio1, Asproudi Andriani1, Bonello Frederica1, Cravero Maria Carla1, Gianotti Silvia2 and Ronco Mario2

1CREA, Research Centre for Viticulture and Enology
2Associazione Monferace, Castello di Ponzano Monferrato

Contact the author

Keywords

Grignolino, wood ageing, aromatic compounds, GC-MS, sensory analysis.

Tags

IVAS 2022 | IVES Conference Series

Citation

Related articles…

Co-design and evaluation of spatially explicit strategies of adaptation to climate change in a Mediterranean watershed

Climate change challenges differently wine growing systems, depending on their biophysical, sociological and economic features. Therefore, there is a need to locally design and evaluate adaptation strategies combining several technical options, and considering the local opportunities and constraints (e.g. water access, wine typicity). The case study took place in a typical and heterogeneous Mediterranean vineyard of 1,500 ha in the South of France. We developed a participatory modeling approach to (1) conceptualize local climate change issues and design spatially explicit adaptation strategies with stakeholders, (2) numerically evaluate their effects on phenology, yield and irrigation needs under the high-emissions climate change scenario RCP 8.5, and (3) collectively discuss simulation results. We organized five sets of workshops, with in-between modeling phases. A process-based model was developed that allowed to evaluate the effects of six technical options (late varieties, irrigation, water saving by reducing canopy size, adjusting cover cropping, reducing density, and shading) with various distributions in the watershed, as well as vineyard relocation. Overall, we co-designed three adaptation strategies. Delay harvest strategy with late varieties showed little effects on decreasing air temperature during ripening. Water constraint limitation strategy would compensate for production losses if disruptive adaptations (e.g. reduced density) were adopted, and more land got access to irrigation. Relocation strategy would foster high premium wine production in the constrained mountainous areas where grapevine is less impacted by climate change. This research shows that a spatial distribution of technical changes gives room for adaptation to climate change, and that the collaboration with local stakeholders is a key to the identification of relevant adaptation. Further research should explore the potential of adaptation strategies based on soil quality improvement and on water stress tolerant varieties.

Effect of one-year cover crop and arbuscular mycorrhiza inocululation in the microbial soil community of a vineyard

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.

Impact of geographical location on the phenolic profile of minority varieties grown in Spain. II: red grapevines

Because terroir and cultivar are drivers of wine quality, is essential to investigate theirs effects on polyphenolic profile before promoting the implantation of a red minority variety in a specific area. This work, included in MINORVIN project, focuses in the polyphenolic profile of 7 red grapevines minority varieties of Vitis vinifera L. (Morate, Sanguina, Santafe, Terriza Tinta Jeromo Tortozona Tinta) and Tempranillo) from six typical viticulture Spanish areas: Aragón (A1), Cataluña (A2), Castilla la Mancha (A3), Castilla –León (A4), Madrid (A5) and Navarra (A6) of 2020 season. Polyphenolic substances were extracted from grapes. 35 compounds were identified and quantified (mg subtance/kg fresh berry) by HPLC and grouped in anthocyanins (ANT) flavanols (FLAVA), flavonols (FLAVO), hydroxycinnamic (AH), benzoic (BA) acids and stilbenes (ST). Antioxidant activity (AA, mmol TE /g fresh berry) was determined by DPPH method. The results were submitted to a two-way ANOVA to investigate the influence of variety, area and their interaction for each polyphenolic family and cluster analysis was used to construct hierarchical dendrograms, searching the natural groupings among the samples. Sanguina (A3) had the most of total polyphenols while Tempranillo (A5) those of ANT. Sanguina (A2) and (A3) reached the highest values of FLAVO, FLAVA and AA. These two last samples had also the maximum of AA. The effect cultivar and area were significant for all polyphenolic families analyzed. A high variability due to variety (>50%) was observed in FLAVA and the maximum value of variability due to growing area was detected in AA (86.41%), ANT and FLAVO (51%); the interaction variety*zone was significant only for ANT, FLAVO, EST and AA. Finally, dendrograms presented five cluster: i) Sanguina (A2); ii) Sanguina (A3); iii) Tempranillo (A5); iv) Tempranillo (A3); Terriza (A3,A5), Morate (A5,A6); v) Santafé (A1,A6); Tortozona tinta (A1,A3,A6); Tinta Jeromo (A3,A4).

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"...

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.