Wine odors: chemicals, physicochemical and perceptive processes involved in their perception

Climate change is increasing water needs in most of the wine growing regions while reducing the availability and quality of water resources for irrigation. In this context, the sustainability of Mediterranean viticulture depends on grapevine responses to the combinations of water and salt stress. With this aim, this work studies the effects of deficit irrigation and salinity on the physiology of the Tempranillo cultivar (Vitis vinifera L.) grafted onto a drought and salinity tolerant rootstock (1103 Paulsen).

Botanist Andreas Raphael Wolny collected a grapevine herbarium from 1812-1824 in Sremski Karlovci (wine region of Vojvodina, Serbia), which represents local cultivated grapevine diversity before the introduction of grape phylloxera in the region. The herbarium comprises over 100 samples organized into two subcollections based on berry colour (red and white varieties), totaling 47 different grape varieties. The objective of this study was to investigate the historical varietal assortment of Balkan and Pannonian winegrowing areas with long viticulture traditions.

The wooden barrel is a key factor in enology, since wine chemical composition and sensory properties changes significantly in contact with the barrel[1]. Today’s highly competitive market constantly demands new differentiated products and wineries search innovations continuously.
Wood selection is crucial: barrels stability to keep constant their contribution and the result on products, and additional and differentiated wood contributions to impact their new products. Oak wood selection has traditionally been carried out using parameters such as specie, location and grain, however, it goes one step further nowadays. Large cooperage work with non-destructive techniques that allow classifying oak wood quickly and easily according to their organoleptic contribution[2].

The market trend heads to food products with less chemical inputs, including in oenology. During the winemaking process, sulfites are commonly use to avoid microbiological contamination and stabilization of the wine thanks to its antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. Nevertheless, this use is not without consequences on human health and environment, leading for example to allergic reaction and pollution. A biological alternative to these sulfites has emerges: the bioprotection.

Measuring the effect of oxygen consumption on the color of wines as the level of dissolved oxygen decreases over time is very useful to know how much oxygen a wine can consume without significantly altering its color. The changes produced in wine after being exposed to high oxygen concentrations have been studied by different authors, but in all cases the wine has been analyzed once the oxygen consumption process has been completed. This work presents the results obtained with the use of an equipment designed and made to measure simultaneously the level of dissolved oxygen and the spectrum of the wine, during the oxygen consumption process from saturation levels with air to very low levels, which indicate the total consumption of the dosed oxygen[1,2].