Analysis of mousy off-flavour wines

Les préoccupations actuelles autour des paysages viticoles vont au-delà des clichés promotionnels développés par les stratégies marketing. En effet, les paysages sont aujourd’hui au cœur d’une demande sociale croissante qui se traduit par différentes lois (la loi paysage de 1993, le paysage reconnu comme patrimoine commun de la nation par la loi n°95-101, la création du Conseil national du paysage par arrêté du 8/12/2000).

The first forms of life on earth were bacteria and single-celled blue-green algae. They evolved into land plants around 500 million years ago, developing mechanisms for surviving on land, such as roots, stems and leaves. This evolution also led them to coexist with other organisms, such as insects and animals, for pollination and seed dispersal, as well as to resist environmental factors such as drought and disease.

At CREA – Centro di Ricerca di Viticoltura ed Enologia, based in Velletri (RM), an experimental vineyard including 10 downy mildew resistent/tolerant grape varieties and two susceptible varieties was set up with the principal goal to evaluate the behavoir of these varieties in term of resistance to downy mildew (Plasmopara viticola). This evaluation, together to oenological studies, are necessary to register them also in Regional Register (in Lazio region). Monitoring of behavior towards Plasmopara viticulture of resistant vines were done in 2020 and 2021 at different times (phenological stages) and until harvesting, according to an international standard code BBCH a centesimal phenological scale, based on coding system.

Reducing sugar accumulation in grape (Vitis vinifera L.) berries may be a way to mitigate the effect of climate change. Managing canopy and crop load is an effective way to do so, however, reducing canopy size has been demonstrated to induce undesirable effects on anthocyanins. The aim of this study was to test if an application of exogenous ABA on the grape berries of defoliated vines (⅔ of the leaves removed) can result in slower sugar accumulation while maintaining grape and wine quality. An experiment with defoliation and exogenous ABA application on directly on clusters (factorial design 2×2) was performed with ‘Tempranillo’ fruit-bearing cuttings.

Intensification is considered one of the major drivers of biodiversity loss in farmland. The more intensive management practices that have been adopted the last decades, contributed to species declines from all taxonomic groups. Moreover, agricultural intensification has led to an important change of land use. Complex, mixed agro-ecosystems with cultivated and non-cultivated habitats have been converted to simplified, intensive and homogeneous ones with severe effects on biodiversity.