1H-NMR-based Untargeted Metabolomics to assess the impact of soil type on the chemical composition of Mediterranean red wines

The effect that some extraction techniques, such as ultrasound (Cacciola, Batllò, Ferraretto, Vincenzi, & Celotti, 2013; Povey & McClements, 1988) or microwaves (Carew, Close, & Dambergs, 2015; Carew, Gill, Close, & Dambergs, 2014) produce on the aroma of red wines, when applied to processes of extractive nature, such as pre-fermentative maceration or ageing with oak chips (Spanish oak – Quercus pyrenaica and French oak – Quercus robur) has been studied. The volatile profile was determined by means of gas chromatography coupled with olfactometric and mass spectrometric detection. A sensory analysis was also carried out. No indications were found to show that the pre-fermentative treatment with microwaves or ultrasound modified the sensory profile of the wines whereas the application of such energies during the ageing phase showed some positive trends at sensory level.

Climate influence on grapevine physiology is prevalent and this influence is only expected to increase with climate change. Although governed by a general determinism, climate influence on grapevine physiology may present variations according to the terroir. In addition, these site-specific differences are likely to be enhanced when climate influence is studied using farm data. Indeed, farm data integrate additional sources of variation such as a varying representativity of the conditions actually experienced in the field. Nevertheless, there is a real challenge in valuing farm data to enable grape growers to understand their own terroir and consequently adapt their practices to the local conditions. In such a context, this article proposes a framework to site-specifically study climate influence on grapevine physiology using farm data. It focuses on improving the analysis of time series of weather data. The analytical framework includes the synchronization of time series using site-specific thermal indices computed with an original method called Extended Growing Degree Days (eGDD). Synchronized time series are then analyzed using a Bayesian functional Linear regression with Sparse Steps functions (BLiSS) in order to detect site-specific periods of strong climate influence on yield development. The article focuses on temperature and rain influence on grape yield development as a case study. It uses data from three commercial vineyards respectively situated in the Bordeaux region (France), California (USA) and Israel. For all vineyards, common periods of climate influence on yield development were found. They corresponded to already known periods, for example around veraison of the year before harvest. However, the periods differed in their precise timing (e.g. before, around or after veraison), duration and correlation direction with yield. Other periods were found for only one or two vineyards and/or were not referred to in literature, for example during the winter before harvest.

The availability of water for irrigation is usually greater at the beginning of spring than in the following months, until the end of summer, in most regions of Spain.

Grapevine cultivars are vegetatively propagated to maintain their varietal attributes. However, spontaneous somatic variation emerges during prolonged periods of vegetative growth, providing an opportunity for the natural improvement of traditional grapevine cultivars. Notably, reduction in bunch compactness is a favorable trait in viticulture, offering advantages such as decreased susceptibility to bunch fungal diseases, and a more uniform ripening of berries. To unravel the genetic and developmental mechanisms behind bunch compactness variation, we examined a somatic variant of Tempranillo Tinto cultivar with loose bunches. We found that the mutant clone exhibits a ~50% reduction in pollen viability compared to typical Tempranillo clones.

Valpolicella is a famous wine producing region located in the north of Verona close to Garda lake and owes its fame above all to the production of two Protected Designation of Origins (PDOs) withered wines: Amarone and Recioto. Nowadays the production of another PDO, Valpolicella Superiore is gaining more attention by the consumers, increasing the interest of the wineries to improve the quality of this wines