Veraison as determinant for wine quality and its potential for climate adapted breeding

Un’ Area di Viticultura Americana, detta AVA, è una regione vinicola delimitata ed è dis­tinguibile da caratteristiche geografiche i cui confini sono stati definiti da regolamenti. Il sistema AVA rappresenta un ‘accettazione del concetto di terroir (terreno), come dimostra­no gli studi che confermano il carattere regionale dei vini AVA e dalla sviluppo di sub­denominazioni più relazionate al terreno.

The results of the first step of the zoning study carried out in Bolghery appellation area (Castagneto Carducci, Tuscany) in the 1993-1995 period have been recently published. Quality factors of Bolgheri appellation and different “terroirs ” were identified.

Moderate wine consumption may impact several human health aspects, among others as a result of phenolic compounds present in wine and their bioactive properties. The aim of this study was to determine whether six weeks of daily, moderate Teran red wine consumption affects the levels of total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol – HDL, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol – LDL, and triglycerides. Sixty-eight healthy adults (46 women and 22 men) aged 25-64 years voluntarily agreed to participate in the study.

The National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) in the United States Department of Agriculture safeguards numerous species. Grapevines are split in two locations: Davis, CA and Geneva, NY. The two germplasms maintain 43 Vitis species with over 4500 genetically unique accessions.

Stilbenes, a kind of non-flavonoid phenolic compounds, have been reported to be responsible for various beneficial effects. Their biological properties include antibacterial and antifungal effects, as well as cardioprotective, neuroprotective and anticancer actions (Guerrero et al. 2009).Several strategies can be used to increase stilbene content in grapes and one of them could be the use of elicitors such as methyl jasmonate. The use of this elicitor has been proven to be efficient in the production of secondary metabolites which increases the quality of wines, but its use also has some drawbacks such as its low water solubility, high volatility, and its expensive cost (Gil-Muñoz et al. 2021).