Effects of oak barrel aging monitored by 1H-NMR metabolomics

With the steady rise in wildfire occurrence in wine regions around the world, there are quality issues beginning to face the wine industry. These fires produce clouds of smoke which have the ability to carry organic molecules across vast distances that can be absorbed by grapes. When these compounds make their way into the final wine, unpleasant smokey and burnt flavors are present, along with a lasting ashy finish. Along with the volatile compounds carried by smoke, once incorporated into the fruit these compounds become bound to sugars, forming glycosidic compounds.

The phenolic compounds (cathechins, cynnamic acids, anthocyanidins) in wines made from 6 vine-varieties (Sangiovese, Cabernet S., Nero d’Avola, Foglia Tonda, Pinot N., Mazzese) grown in 4 different pedoclimatic zones of Tuscany (Arezzo, Grosseto, Pisa and Lucca) have been analyzed by HPLC.

The application of remote and proximal sensing is a fast and efficient method to monitor grapevine vegetative and physiological parameters and is considered valuable to derive information on associated yield and quality traits in the vineyard. Further details can be obtained by the application of molecular analysis at the gene expression level aiming at elucidating how pathways controlling the formation of different grape quality traits are influenced by spatial variability. This work aims at evaluating intra-vineyard variability in grape composition at harvest and at comparing this with remotely sensed canopy vegetation data and molecular-based approaches.

The evaluation of the current and future impact of climate change on viticulture requires an integrated view on a complex interacting system within the soil-plant-atmospheric continuum under continuous change. Aside of the globally observed increase in temperature in almost all viticulture regions for at least four decades, we observe several clear trends at the regional level in the ratio of precipitation to potential evapotranspiration. Additionally the recently published 6th assessment report of the ipcc (the physical science basis) shows case-dependent further expected shifts in climate patterns which will have substantial impacts on the way we will conduct viticulture in the decades to come.

La place prépondérante que prend le Massif Jurassien en Franche-Comté confère à la région un caractère montagneux qui a orienté l’agriculture vers l’élevage laitier. Cette vocation pastorale marquée et de rudes conditions climatiques sont à l’origine de la production, attestée depuis l’Antiquité, d’un fromage de réserve pour la longue période hivernale. Cette tradition fromagère, liée à des prairies naturelles, a perduré jusqu’à nos jours. La qualité et la spécificité du produit actuel, le fromage de Comté, ont été reconnues dès 1952 par l’attribution d’un label et dès 1958, par la reconnaissance d’un périmètre d’appellation d’origine contrôlée, l’A.O.C. Comté (fig. 1).