Grape phylloxera meets drought: increased risk for vines under climate change?

Nowadays, the trend is to reduce the use of chemical inputs in the food sector, including in oenology. One of the inputs widely used in the wine making process are sulfites, for its several properties: antimicrobial and antioxidiant. This use isn’t without consequences on consumer’s health and environment, it can lead for example to allergic reactions and pollution. To limit the addition of chemical inputs, microbial alternatives are used. It consists to inoculate in grape must, a micro-organism able to inhibit the growth of the negative indigenous flora during the phase before the fermentation and to guarantee the sensory qualities of wines.

El tema que me corresponde tratar en esta mini conferencia sobre “Caracterización vitivinícola de las Malvasías en Canarias”, es por razones obvias la parte que atañe a la Isla de La Palma.

Wines with tropical fruit aromas have become increasingly more available1,2. With increased availability of different wine styles, it has become important to understand the compounds that cause the fruity aromas in wine. Previous work using micro fermentations showed that fermentation temperature gradients and time on skins resulted in an increase in thiol and ester compounds post fermentation and these compounds are known to cause tropical fruit aroma in wines³. This work aimed to scale up these fermentations/operations to determine if the desired aromas could still be achieved and if there is a perceivable difference in tropical fruit aromas, liking, and emotional response in the wines at the consumer level.

The Registered Appellation of Origin Mark (RAOM) « Jerez-Xérès-Sherry and Manzanilla Sanlucar de Barrameda » is one of the oldest and more important zone in wine history and production. «Albarizas» unit (white calcareous marls with sea-fossils) is the most representative geological material of the RAOM (75%) and even more in the central-NW area of the RAOM, known as «Jerez Superior» area (Superior Quality Sherry Area). « Albarizas » form undulated hillocks (3-10% slope) and hills (>10% slope), the litologic unit has E-W and S-W direction, and Regosols and Leptosols are the principal soils.

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.