From genes to vineyards: system biology and new breeding technologies for water stress tolerance in grapevines

L’activité photosynthétique et les relations hydriques de plantes de Syrah sur R99 un mois après la véraison ont été étudiées dans un vignoble de la région de Stellenbosch. Le vignoble, planté à 2,75 entre rangs et 1,5 m sur le rang, sur un sol de type Glenrosa, était en pente et exposé a l’ouest: pour les rangs on avait adopté une orientation nord

Among the factors that influence the sensory quality, style, safety, sustainability, and sense of place of a wine, the contributions of microbial biodiversity are widely becoming more recognized. Throughout winemaking, multiple biochemical reactions are performed by a myriad of different microorganisms interacting in many ways.

Wine color is one of the main organoleptic characteristics influencing its quality. It is of especial interest in red vinifications due to the economic resources that wineries have to invest for the extraction of the phenolic compounds responsible of wine color, compounds that are mainly located inside the skin cell vacuoles. Moreover, these phenolic compounds not only influence color but also other organoleptic properties such as body, mouthfeel, astringency and flavour. The transference of phenolic compounds from grapes to must during vinification is closely related with the type of grapes and the winemaking technique.

A part, at least, of the fruity aroma of red wines is the consequence of perceptive interactions between various aromatic compounds, particularly ethyl esters and acetates, which may contribute to the perception of fruity aromas, specifically thanks to synergistic effects.1,2 The question of the indirect impact of non-fruity compounds on this particular aromatic expression has not yet been widely investigated. Among these compounds higher alcohols (HA) represent the main group, from a quantitative standpoint, of volatiles in many alcoholic beverages. Moreover, some bibliographic data suggested their contribution to the aromatic complexity by either increasing or masking flavors of wine, depending of their concentrations.

Polyphenols are common in human diets, primarily in plant-derived food and beverages. They influence multiple sensory properties such as aroma, flavour, colour, and taste, such as astringency and bitterness [1]. The major phenolic compounds in grapes and wines are anthocyanins and tannins (proanthocyanidins or condensed tannins).