The state of the climate

Terroirs represent a heritage that must be studied and managed with appropriate methods; recourse to agronomic and oenological sciences alone is necessary, but is in no way sufficient without the contribution of the humanities.

The mechanization of vineyard work originally led to a reduction in planting densities due to the lack of machinery adapted to the vineyard. The current availability of specific machinery makes it possible to establish higher planting densities. In this work, three planting densities (1.40×0.80 m, 1.80×1 m and 2.20×1.20 m, corresponding to 8928, 5555 and 3787 plants/ha respectively) were studied with four varieties autochthonous of Galicia (northwestern Spain): Albariño and Treixadura (white), Sousón and Mencía (red). The vines were trained in a vertical shoot positioning system using a single Royat cordon, and pruned to spurs with two buds each. Agronomic data (yield, pruning wood weight, Ravaz index) and oenological data in must were collected. The higher planting density (1.40×0.80 m) had no significant effect on grape yield per vine in white varieties, although production per hectare was much higher due to the greater number of plants. In red varieties, this planting density resulted in a significantly lower production per vine, compensated by the greater number of plants. In addition, it significantly reduced the Brix degree in the must of the Albariño, Treixadura and Sousón varieties, and increased the total acidity in the latter two and Mencía. It also caused an increase in extractable and total anthocyanins and IPT in red grapes. The effects of high planting density on grapes are of great interest for the adaptation of varieties in the context of climate change. In the future, it could be advisable to modify the limits imposed by the appellations of origin on the planting density of these varieties in order to obtain more balanced wines.

The global consumption of wine has undergone significant changes after several years of covid-19, which was the beginning of a global crisis of the current century. This pushed some people to start looking for comfort and security as they felt that the world around them was losing these benefits. In most cases, this has led to them to idea of rethinking their lives in an attempt to live better or continuing to stay true to their habits and lifestyles despite the pressure of changes. Alcohol in any form is a part of these reactions, leading to increased consumption in the early stages of a crisis, particularly in relation to anxiety.

A rapid and reproducible microwave (MW)-assisted acid digestion protocol was developed to determine the elemental composition of grapevine bark samples using ICP-MS.

The Fresh Mushroom Off-Flavor (FMOff) is a concerning undesirable aroma in wine specific of certain vintages, characterized by a typical button mushroom aroma. The appearance of this off-flavor is linked to the presence of certain fungus on the grape [1-3].