Temperature-based phenology modelling for the grapevine 

Oxygen management in wine is one of the most significant challenging issues for winemakers.

AIM AND METHODS: Corvina and Corvinone are the two main grape varieties used in the production of Valpolicella, Recioto and Amarone, top-quality red wines in north-eastern Italy. This work aimed at determining the aroma composition of Corvina and Corvinone experimental wines and identify the main aroma compounds contributing to the aroma characteristics of Corvina and Corvinone monovarietal wines. Five Corvina and five Corvinone wines were studied, the grapes coming from five different vineyards in Valpolicella. Volatile compounds were extracted by SPE and identified and quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), whereas their aroma impact was determined by gas chromatography- olfactometry (GC-O).RESULTS: Based on the GC-MS-O analysis, 95 odor zones were detected, from which 68 compounds were successfully identified. Using the criterion of a value higher than 30% in modified frequency (MF %), 51 compounds were selected and grouped according to odor similarity. Compounds with values below 30% were discarded.

‘Tempranillo Tinto’ is a black-berried Iberian cultivar that originated from a hybridization between cvs. ‘Benedicto’ and ‘Albillo Mayor’ [1]. Today, it is the third most widely grown wine grape cultivar worldwide with more than 200,000 hectares of vineyards mostly distributed along the Iberian Peninsula, where it is also known as ‘Cencibel’, ‘Tinta de Toro’, ‘Tinta Roriz’, and ‘Aragonez’, among other synonyms. Here, we quantified the intra-varietal genomic diversity in this cultivar through the study of 35 clones or ancient vines from seven different Iberian wine-making regions. A comparative analysis after Illumina whole-genome sequencing revealed the presence of 1,120 clonal single nucleotide variants (SNVs).

In the context of global change, the environmental conditions are expected to be more stressful for viticulture. The choice of the rootstock may play a crucial role to improve the adaptation of viticulture to new biotic and abiotic threats (Ollat et al., 2016). However, the selection of interesting traits in rootstock breeding programs is complex because of the combination of multiple targets in a same ideotype. In this sense, the integration of studies about the genetic architecture for desired biotic and abiotic response traits allow us to identify genomic regions to combine and those with interesting pleiotropic effects.

Aims: Shiraz is the most widely cultivated grape variety in Australia, and is grown under a range of viticultural and climatic conditions. Given its importance to the Australian wine sector, a number of studies have been conducted in recent years which involved a comprehensive assessment of grape composition, in order to objectively predict wine quality and style outcomes.