terclim by ICS banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 ANTI-TRANSPIRANT MODULATION OF GRAPE RIPENING: EFFECTS ON MERLOT VINE DEVELOPMENT AND ROSÉ WINE PHENOLIC AND AROMATIC PROFILES

ANTI-TRANSPIRANT MODULATION OF GRAPE RIPENING: EFFECTS ON MERLOT VINE DEVELOPMENT AND ROSÉ WINE PHENOLIC AND AROMATIC PROFILES

Abstract

Climate changes are impacting viticultural regions throughout the world with temperature increases being most prevalent.1 These changes will not only impact the regions capable of growing grapes, but also the grapes that can be grown.2 As temperatures rise the growing degree days increase and with it the sugar accumulation within the berries and subsequent alcohol levels in wine. Consequently, viticultural practices need to be examined to decrease the levels of sugars. Anti-transpirants have been used to some degree of success, however their benefits may be linked to the varietal and style of wine produced.3 With this in mind we undertook a study of anti-transpirant application to merlot grapes to determine its effectiveness for reducing alcohol in Rosé wines.

The trial was performed in a commercial vineyard in the Hawke’s Bay region of New Zealand. The vines were two cane pruned and the vineyard was managed under conventional practices. The trial was setup as a randomized block design with five vines per block. Anti-transpirant was applied using a backpack sprayer to upper portion of the canopy to the point of run off at véraison. The berries were then harvested by hand at 18 °Brix and wine making using a standardized wine making protocol at the research winery.

The harvest dates were delayed between the treated and untreated vines. The treated wines were found to have a higher pH, lower titratable acidity, and increased total phenolics. The aroma compound analysis resulted in several significant differences that were noted in the sensory evaluation. In both vintages the control wines were found to be influenced by green, vegetal, and earthy notes while the treated wines were found to be influenced by fruit aromas. These sensory attributes were confirmed by examining the aromatic compounds by PCA. This resulted in the controls being influenced by methoxypyrazines and alcohols and a few esters, compared to treated wines which were influenced by esters and terpenoids.

In conclusion, we were able to show that the application of anti-transpirant was able to dissociate the ripening process of Merlot grapes. Its application decreased sugar production but allowed for aromatic compound production. This demonstrates the potential effectiveness for anti-transpirants to control sugar in grape production to mitigate increased temperatures. These results indicate that further research is necessary to optimize the application timing of the anti-transpirant.

 

1. Van Leeuwen, C. D.-I., A.; Dubernet, M.; Duchêne, E.; Gowdy, M.; Marguerit, E.; Pieri, P.; Parker, A.; de Rességuier, L.; Ollat, N. (2019). An Update on the Impact of Climate Change in Viticulture and Potential Adaptations. Agronomy, 9, 514
2. Parker, A. K., García de Cortázar-Atauri, I., Gény, L., Spring, J.-L., Destrac, A., Schultz, H., Molitor, D., Lacombe, T., Graça, A., Monamy, C., Stoll, M., Storchi, P., Trought, M. C. T., Hofmann, R. W., & van Leeuwen, C. (2020). Temperature-based grape-vine sugar ripeness modelling for a wide range of Vitis vinifera L. cultivars. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 285-286, 107902.
3. Di Vaio, C., Marallo, N., Di Lorenzo, R., & Pisciotta, A. (2019). Anti-Transpirant Effects on Vine Physiology, Berry and Wine Composition of cv. Aglianico (Vitis vinifera L.) Grown in South Italy. Agronomy, 9(5), 244.

DOI:

Publication date: February 9, 2024

Issue: OENO Macrowine 2023

Type: Article

Authors

Kenneth Olejar1, Petra King2, Carmo Vasconcelos3, Elise Montgomery4, Karen Ball5, Stewart Field6

1 Appalchian State University, Department of Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences, Boone, NC, USA
2 Easten Institute of Technology, Department of Viticulture and Wine, Taradale, New Zealand
3 Bragato Research Institute, Blenheim, New Zealand
4 New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology, Department of Viticulture and Wine, Taradale, New Zealand
5 Easten Institute of Technology, Department of Viticulture and Wine, Taradale, New Zealand
6 New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology, Department of Viticulture and Wine, Blenheim, New Zealand

Contact the author*

Keywords

dissociatedripenin, glow-alcohol wine, wine sensory, wine aroma

Tags

IVES Conference Series | oeno macrowine 2023 | oeno-macrowine

Citation

Related articles…

FERMENTATION POTENTIAL OF INDIGENOUS NON-SACCHAROMYCES YEASTS ISOLATED FROM MARAŠTINA GRAPES OF CROATIAN VINEYARDS

The interest in indigenous non-Saccharomyces yeast for use in wine production has increased in recent years because they contribute to the complex character of the wine. The aim of this work was to investigate the fermentation products of ten indigenous strains selected from a collection of native yeasts established at the Institute for Adriatic Crops and Karst Reclamation in 2021, previously isolated from Croatian Maraština grapes, belonging to Hypopichia pseudoburtonii, Metschnikowia pulcherrima, Metschnikowia sinensis, Metschnikowia chrysoperlae, Lachancea thermotolerans, Pichia kluyveri, Hanseniaspora uvarum, Hanseniaspora guillermondii, Hanseniaspora pseudoguillermondii, and Starmerella apicola species, and compare it with commercial non-Saccharomyces and Saccharomyces strains.

ASSESSMENT OF GRAPE QUALITY THROUGH THE MONITORING OFPHENOLIC RIPENESS AND THE APPLICATION OF A NEW RAPID METHOD BASED ON RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY

The chemical composition of grape berries at harvest is one of the key aspects influencing wine quality and depends mainly on the ripeness level of grapes. Climate change affects this trait, unbalancing technological and phenolic ripeness, and this further raises the need for a fast determination of the grape maturity in order to quickly and efficiently determine the optimal time for harvesting. To this end, the characterization of variety-specific ripening curves and the development of new and rapid methods for determining grape ripeness are of key importance.

PERCEPTUAL INTERACTIONS PHENOMENA INVOLVING VARIOUS VOLATILE COMPOUND FAMILIES LINKED TO SOME FRUITY NOTES IN BORDEAUX RED WINES

Fruity notes play a key role in the consumer’s appreciation of Bordeaux red wines. If literature provides a lot of knowledge about the nature of volatile compounds involved in this fruity expression, the sensory phenomena involving these compounds in mixture still need to be explored. Considering previous sensory works about the impact of esters and some overripening compounds, the goal of this work was to study the implication of perceptual interactions involving red wine odorant compounds of diverse origins and described as potentially affecting fruity aromatic expression.

NEW PLANT BIOPOLYMERS FOR THE COLLOIDAL STABILITY OF THE COLORING MATTER OF RED WINES

The color as well as the “clarity” of red wines are ones of the qualities required by the consumers. Red wines must have colloidal stability from its bottling to its consumption. The supplementation of red wines with additives, and especially Acacia senegal gum, contributes to its organoleptic properties such as the colloidal stabilization of the coloring matter. In a global perspective of limitation of additives in the field of enology, one of the objectives is notably (i) to reduce the use of additives in wines, by their number and/or their quantity, and (ii) to favor the use of natural additives while preserving the organoleptic and sensory qualities of wines.

LARGE SURVEY OF THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF WINES RESULTING OF THE PRESSING OF RED WINE MARC. FIRST RESULTS

In the Bordeaux vineyards, press red wine represents about 15% of the volume of wines. Valuing this large volume of press wine is necessary from an economic point of view, of course, but also because of their organoleptic contribution to the blend. Nevertheless, there is a lack of recent knowledge on the composition of press wines. This work aims to establish an initial assessment of their composition (aromatic and polyphenolic) and to set up hypothesis on to the links with their sensorial identity.