Unravel the underlying mechanisms of delaying ripening techniques in grapevine

The main objective of this study was to establish if beet sugar produces a different concentration of “fruity” volatile aroma compounds (VOCs), compared to cane sugar when used for second alcoholic fermentation of Auxerrois sparkling wines. Auxerrois base wine from the 2020 vintage was separated into two lots; half was fermented with cane sugar and half with beet sugar (both sucrose products and tested for sugar purity). These sugars were used in yeast acclimation (IOC 2007), and base wines for the second fermentation (12 bottles each). Base wines were manually bottled at the Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) research winery. The standard chemical analysis took place at intervals of 0, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks post-bottling. Acidity and pH measurements were carried out by an auto-titrator. Residual Sugar (g/L) (glucose (g/L), fructose (g/L)), YAN (mg N/L), malic acid, and acetic acid (g/L) were analyzed by Megazyme assay kits. parameters were analyzed by Megazyme assay kits. Alcohol (% v/v) was assessed by GC-FID. VOC analysis of base wines, finished sparkling wines, as well as the two sugars in model sparkling wine solutions, was carried out by GC-MS. VOCs included ethyl octanoate, ethyl hexanoate, ethyl butanoate, ethyl decanoate, ethyl-2-methylbutyrate, ethyl-3-methylbutyrate, ethyl 2-methyl propanoate, ethyl 2- hydroxy propanoate, 1-hexanol, 2-phenylethan-1-ol, ethyl acetate, hexyl acetate, isoamyl acetate and 2-phenylethyl acetate.

Annually, around 31.95 million tonnes of grapevine prunings are produced worldwide as agricultural waste.

Climate plays a predominant role in vines’ growth and productivity and several environmental variables are already known to pose challenges to grapevine production and the horticultural industry as a whole. In this context, a number of extreme weather events already occurring and expected to occur in the next decades even more frequently and with higher magnitude results from current climate change scenario. The aim of this study was to examine the physiological responses of roots, leaves, and berries of Vitis vinifera cv. Sauvignon blanc to consecutive and combined stressors simulated in a semi-controlled environment.

Resilience and sustainability are two fundamental concepts in the sustainable development of the wine sector, being closely interconnected.

The current levels of greenhouse gas emissions are expecting to provoke a change on the environmental conditions which, among others, will include a rise of global mean surface temperature and an increment of atmospheric CO2 levels (IPCC, 2014), known as climate change. The response of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.), one of the most important crops in Europe, from both a cultural and economic point of view, is not completely understood yet and the studies considering the interaction between factors are scarce. Besides, the potential variety of responses among somatic variants needs to be studied in order to be exploited in the avoidance of undesired traits linked to climate change (Carbonell‐Bejerano et al., 2015).