The colour pattern of flower arrangements influence wine tasters’ sensory description

Several studies have tried to develop different methods to study the photodegradation of wine in an accelerated way, trying to elucidate the effect of light on the wine compounds[1]. In a previous study, our team developed a chamber that speeds up the photodegradation of rosé wine[2]. In the present work we have tried to establish a correlation between irradiation times in accelerated conditions and the natural exposure to the cycles of light that usually exist in markets or at home.

Grapevine vigour, defined as the propensity to assimilate, store and/or use non-structural sugars for allowing fast growth of shoots and producing large canopies[1], is crucial to optimize vineyard management. Recently, a model has been proposed for predicting the vigor of young grapevines through the measurement of the vegetative growth and physiological parameters, such as water status and gas exchange[2]. Our objectives were (1) to explore the influence of the association of two grapevine varieties (Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon, grafted onto R110 rootstocks) with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on the vegetative vigour of young plants; and (2) to assess the effect of environmental factors linked to climate change on the vegetative vigour of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Botrytis cinerea, a well-known grapevine pathogen, has more than 1200 host plants causing grey rot in grapevine berries. However, it can also result in a desirable phenomenon called noble rot under specific microclimate conditions. An extraordinary demonstration of this natural process can be observed in the creation of aszú wines within Hungary’s Tokaj wine region. Beside B. cinerea other fungi and yeasts are involved in the secondary metabolic development of the grape berry which contributes to the sensory and analytical characterization of noble rot wines.

Cover cropping in vineyard is a sustainable and alternative soil management system to conventional tillage that is gaining more and more importance among winegrowers and is being promoted, among other organizations, by the European Union through the eco-schemes of the Common Agricultural Policy.
However, the use of cover crops in Mediterranean viticultural environments is conditioned, to a large extent, by the availability of irrigation water which, in a context of global warming like the one we are experiencing, must be adjusted to savings strategies, supplying to the vine only what it needs in each moment.

The root and shoot abscisic acid (ABA) accumulation in response to water deficit and its relation with stomatal conductance is longtime known in grapevine. ABA-dependent and ABA-independent signalling response to osmotic stress coexist in sessile plants. In grapevine, the signaling role of ABA in response to water stress conditions and its influence on berry quality is critical to manage grapevine acclimation to climate change.