What triggers the decision to ripen 

Vine growers face an increasing number of decisions, both tactical and strategic, in a context where available data and constraints are on the rise, such as resources, societal, environmental, climatic, and economic factors. This has led to a growing supply of decision support systems (DSS) and softwares to manage vineyards. Facing this new complexity, growers must now consider several options: giving up the use of DSS, using systems that are compatible with each other but may limit their options, or using a single system that may be too complex to use effectively. In this context, itk has expanded its Vintel® tool, which was originally designed for grapevine water status management (irrigation, inter-row, cover-crop, etc.), to include fertilization and disease management.

Vine genetics, fruit maturity, region and vineyard are perceived as factors that strongly influence Pinot noir grape and wine composition. Our study aims to understand the relationship between grape (and ultimately wine) composition and the physical appearance and performance characteristics of a vine (i.e. vine ideotype). Our experimental approach controlled these variables by

This study evaluated the levels of trans-resveratrol in commercial wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from different valleys of Chile stilbenes. The Cabernet Sauvignon is the most planted variety in Chile, being 38% of the total vineyard country. Chile is the fourth largest wine exporter in the world, so it is important to evaluate the Cabernet-Sauvignon wines in their concentration levels of trans-resveratrol and its relation to the benefits provided to human health in moderate consumption. Evaluation comprises commercial wines from different valleys of Chile and its relationship with climatic characteristics, soil and vineyard handling.

Barrel fermentation and barrel-ageing of wine are commonly utilised practices in premium wine production. The wine aroma compounds related to barrel contact are varied and can enhance a range of wine aromas and flavours, such as ‘struck flint’, ‘caramel’, ‘red berry’, ‘toasty’ and ‘nutty’, as well as conventional oaky characters such as ‘vanilla’, ‘spice’, ‘smoky’ and ‘coconut’. A survey of commercially produced premium Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines was conducted, assessing the prevalence of compounds that have been proposed as barrel-ageing markers¹ including oak lactones, volatile phenols, furanones, aldehydes, thiazoles2,3, phenylmethanethiol⁴ and 2-furylmethanethiol.⁵

The grapes producing and wine making regions are différent in their use of agricultural, industrial or agroindustrial means. These means are quite often very original and/or specialised; and lately are also quite competitive. Such means are being defined with increased accuracy in the delimitation and definition of its characteristics (Paneque et al., 1996 a). Human action together with other Elements and Agents involved in the vine growing production (Reyner, 1989) over these means lead to agronomic systems with important characteristics. Finally, the transformation of the vine growing production, through different technologies (Fleet, 1992), results in the creation of products with a different acceptance and economical value in the market.