Aroma chemical markers of Durello wines from different vintages and origins: a case study

The development of interspecific hybrid varieties (ihvs) resistant to diseases such as powdery mildew and downy mildew allows for a decrease in the use of inputs in vineyards. In this pers-pective, ihvs represent a response to societal demand for reducing environmental impact and are increasingly used in viticulture. At the same time, wines resulting from so-called sponta-neous fermentations, based on indigenous flora, have recently gained popularity.

The complexity of the wine matrix makes the monitoring of the winemaking process crucial. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) along with chemometrics is considered an effective analytical tool combining good accuracy, robustness, high sample throughput, and “green character”. Portable and non-portable FTIR devices are already used by the wine industry for routine analysis. However, the analytical calibrations need to be enriched, and some others are still waiting to be thoroughly developed.

Performing accurate vineyard yield estimation is of upmost importance as it provides important benefits to the whole vine and wine industry. Recently, image-analysis approaches have been explored to address this issue however this approach has as main challenge the bunch occlusion, mostly by vegetation but also by neighboring bunches. The present work aims at assessing the magnitude of bunch occlusion by neighboring bunches and to evaluate its dependency on a selection of vegetative and reproductive vine parameters assessed at fruiting zone. Forty vine segments (1 m) of two vineyard plots of the white cultivars ‘Alvarinho’ and ‘Arinto’ were assessed for vegetative and reproductive features at fruiting zone and imaged with a 2D camera.

Oral tribology receives growing attention in the field of food sciences as it offers great opportunities to establish correlations between physical parameters, such as the coefficient of friction, and sensory perceptions in the human mouth.

Non-Saccharomyces starter cultures became increasingly popular over the years because of their potential to produce more distinctive and unique wines. The major benefit of the use of Lachancea thermotolerans as a fermentation starter is its ability to produce relevant amounts of lactic acid and reduce alcoholic strength, making it valuable for mitigating negative impacts of climate change on grapes and wine quality. Besides, like any other non-Saccharomyces yeast, L. thermotolerans can significantly affect a whole range of other physico-chemical wine parameters.