Exploring relationships among grapevine chemical and physiological parameters and mycobiome composition under drought stress

The wine closure industry is mainly divided into three categories: screw caps, synthetic closures, and cork-based closures. Among this latter, microagglomerated cork stoppers treated with supercritical CO2 are now widely used, especially to avoid cork taint contaminations[1]. They are designed with cork granules obtained from cork offcuts of the punching process during the natural cork stoppers production. A previous study[2] showed that these stoppers released fewer polyphenols in 12 % (v/v) hydroalcoholic solution than natural cork stoppers.

Wine flavour is the integration of distinct physiologically defined sensory systems that combine taste, aroma and trigeminal sensations, and it is a key determinant factor for the acceptance of wine by consumers. Volatile compounds, are important contributors to wine flavour, specially to aroma. These small and low-boiling point compounds are easily released into the air allowing to enter and move within the nasal or oral cavities where they can bind the olfactory receptors. Additionally, wine also contains aroma precursors, which are non-volatile compounds, but that can be broken down releasing volatile odorants. During wine tasting, all these chemicals (volatiles and non-volatiles) can be submitted to the action of salivary enzymes.

The plant rhizosphere microbial communities are an essential component of plant microbiota, which is crucial for sustaining the production of healthy crops. The main drivers of the composition of such communities are the growing environment and the planted genotype. Recent viticulture studies focus on understanding the effects of these factors on soil microbial composition since microbial biodiversity is an important determinant of plant phenotype, and of wine’s organoleptic properties. Microbial biodiversity of different wine regions, for instance, is an important determinant of wine terroir.

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.

Changes in the rainfall and temperature patterns affect the increase of drought periods becoming one of the major constraints to assure agricultural and crop resilience in the Mediterranean regions. Beside the adaptation of agricultural practices, also the microbial compartment associated to plants should be considered in the crop management. It is known that the microbial community change according to several factors such as soil composition, agricultural management system, plant variety and rootstock.