Multi-omics methods to unravel microbial diversity in fermentation of Riesling wines

Around the world, the alcohol content of wine has been steadily increasing; partly as a consequence of climate change, but also due to improvements in viticultural management practices and winemaking techniques [1,2]. Concurrently, market demand for wines with lower alcohol levels has increased as consumers seek to reduce alcohol intake for social and/or health reasons [3]. As such, there is increasing demand for both innovative methods that allow winemakers to produce ‘reduced alcohol wines’ (RAW) and a better understanding of the impact of such methods on the composition of RAW. This study therefore aimed to investigate compositional changes in two red wines resulting from partial alcohol removal following treatment by one such method, involving a combination of reverse osmosis and evaporative perstraction (RO-EP).

Pratiquement tout le territoire d’Istrie possède les bonnes conditions naturelles pour la viticulture, laquelle dans ce lieu a une tradition millénaire. La viticulture était et reste toujours la plus importante branche de production agraire et d’économie. Les sites viticoles en Istrie sont caractérisés par des diverses conditions naturelles.

Wine regions are getting warmer as average temperatures continue raising affecting grape growth, berry composition and wine production. Berry quality was evaluated in plants of Vitis vinifera cv Syrah grafted on two rootstocks, Paulsen (PL1103) and SO4, and grown under two salinity concentrations (LS:0.7dS/m and HS:2.5dSm-1) in combination with two irrigation regimes (HW:133% and CW:100%), being the seasonal water application 483mm (control, 100%). Spectrophotometer measurements from berry skin during veraison and harvest stages and from “young” wine samples, were indicative of the stressors effect and the mediation of the rootstocks. At veraison (i) total phenolics content were high under LSHW (0.7dSm-1 and high water conditions) for SO4 and PL1103.

Climate change is likely to impact wine typicity across the globe, raising concerns in wine regions historically renowned for the quality of their terroir. Amongst several changes in viticultural practices, replacing some of the planting material (i.e clones, rootstocks and cultivars) is thought to be one of the most promising potential levers to be used for adapting to climate change. But the change of cultivars also involves the issue of protecting the region’s wine typicity.

At a time when the world’s winegrowing industry is having to adapt to a number of challenges, winegrowers are wondering about the consequent changes they will have to make (grape varieties, changes in vineyard and cellar techniques). For winegrowers and consumers alike, there is also the question of how these changes will affect the taste of their wines. This research, based on the study of numerous sources and archives from the 20th century, some of which have never been published before, aims to show that, in the recent past, the winegrowing world has shown incredible resilience in the face of crises, and that the taste and perception of fine wines has changed considerably in 100 years.