What triggers the decision to ripen 

Wine produced under Designation of Origin (DOP) Ribeiro, the oldest DOP in Galicia (NW Spain), are elaborated using local grape cultivars, grown at the valleys of Miño, Avia and Arnoia rivers. The landscape formed by slopes and terraces and the peculiar climate of continental character, softened by the proximity of Atlantic Ocean, make it an area of excellent aptitude for vine cultivation. In addition, small-scale farming and the use of traditional techniques for vineyard management provide a great diversity to Ribeiro wines. This study presents the evaluation of red and white wines (bottled or bulk wines) from DOP Ribeiro, produced between years 2018-2022.

Following anecdotal evidence of unwanted ‘tropical’ character in red wines resulting from vineyard interventions and a subsequent yeast trial observing higher ‘red fruit’ character correlated with higher thiol concentrations, the role of polyfunctional thiols in commercial Australian red wines was investigated.
First, trials into the known tropical thiol modulation technique of foliar applications of sulfur and urea were conducted in parallel on Chardonnay and Shiraz.1 The Chardonnay wines showed expected results with elevated concentrations of 3-sulfanylhexanol (3-SH) and 3-sulfanylhexyl acetate (3-SHA), whereas the Shiraz wines lacked 3-SHA. Furthermore, the Shiraz wines were described as ‘drain’ (known as ‘reductive’ aroma character) during sensory evaluation although they did not contain thiols traditionally associated with ‘reductive’ thiols (H2S, methanethiol etc.).

Oxygen consumed by wine is used to oxidize sulfur dioxide and ethanol to form acetaldehyde wine oxygen consumption rate (OCR) was negatively correlated with the initial acetaldehyde level.

Effective control with fungicides is essential to protect grapevine from downy mildew, a devastating disease caused by the oomycete Plasmopara viticola. Managing this disease faces challenges in maintaining fungicide efficacy as the number of modes of action decreases and the risk of fungicide resistance increases. Long-term measures should address strains resistant to multiple modes of action, that can be selected by the repeated use of single-site fungicides. For these reasons, a precision management of the disease, that considers the selection of the best fungicide schedule according to the sensitivity profile of the pathogen population, is needed.

Un programme de recherche concernant les facteurs naturels et humains des terroirs viticoles a été développé dans le vignoble A.O.C. de l’Anjou, sur une surface d’environ 30.000 Ha