Foliar application of urea improved the nitrogen composition of Chenin grapes

Based on historical vine cultivation, the recent development of wine production in Drama wine region (Greece) has led to vine cultivation expansion of white and red varieties. The current cultivation of 500 ha of vineyards is expected to increase in the coming years. Natural terroir units (NTU) have been designed recently to support the production of high quality wines in the region [1]. The aim of this work is to evaluate the relevancy of the proposed NTUs regarding their suitability to produce wines of specific sensorial identity, and to provide guidelines for correct site selection for the expanding wine industry of the region.

Pomace is one of the main residues generated by the wine industry and represents an environmental problem. Currently, there is a growing interest in the revaluation of these products because different bioactive compounds can be obtained from them, such as polyphenols, grape seed oils and polysaccharides. Red grape pomace can be an important source of polysaccharides, but they are currently little studied and even less with viable and environmental extraction processes (green extraction), such as flash extraction. The residual amount of the fraction rich in pectin (residual pulp) and component rich in hemicellulose in the pomace and the strength of association of the pectin with the cellulose-xyloglucan network depend on the degree of extractability of the polysaccharides in red winemaking and on the winemaking conditions.

The yeast ecosystem in grape musts is quite broad and depends on the region and the health of the grapes. Within this, there are yeasts that can generate fermentative deviations and/or cause defects in the wine. It is very important to address this issue because there are significant economic losses in the wine industry when the fermentation process and/or the organoleptic characteristics of the wine are negatively affected, even more today since climate change has a marked effect on the composition of this ecosystem. The aim of this work is to characterize the behavior regarding detrimental oenological features of potential spoilage yeasts isolated from viticultural environments.

The growing interest in minority grape varieties is due to their potential for adaptation to global warming and their oenological capabilities. However, the cultivation of these varieties has often been limited due to their low economic efficiency. One such example is Maturana Blanca, a recently recovered and authorized minority grape variety in the DOCa Rioja region, known for its remarkable oenological potential but low productivity. This study aimed to increase the yield of Maturana Blanca by implementing the vertical cordon training system, which allowed for a higher number of buds per plant and an increased cluster count per vine.

Light is responsible for adverse reactions in wine including the formation of unpleasant flavors, loss of vitamins or photodegradation of anthocyanins. Among them, the riboflavin degradation leads to the formation of undesirable volatile compounds, known as light-struck taste. These photo-chemical reactions could be avoided by simply using opaque packaging. However, most rosé wines are kept in transparent bottles due to different commercial reasons. Some agri-food waste extracts have been studied for their photoprotective action which turn to be highly correlated with phenolic content [1].