The adaptation and resilience of scions and rootstocks to water constraint

Winemakers are increasingly experimenting with new techniques, such as spontaneous fermentation, prolonged yeast contact, higher pH, minimal sulphur dioxid, filtration and clarification or oxidative ageing. Along with this, the risk of microbial spoilage increases, and so the off-flavour mousiness, long time underestimated, is becoming more frequent. Characteristic of the mousy off-flavour is the delayed perception after swallowing the wine. After a few seconds the flavour appears, reminiscent of a dirty mouse cage. There are three known compounds that cause mousy off-flavor: 2-ethyltetrahydropyridine, 2-acetyltetrahydopyridine, and 2-acetylpyrroline. Yeasts such as Dekkera/Brettanomyces and heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria like Lactobacillus hilgardii can release these compounds.

Grapevine yield has been historically overlooked, assuming a strong trade-off between grape yield and wine quality. At present, menaced by climate change, many vineyards in Southern France are far from the quality label threshold, becoming grapevine yield-gaps a major subject of concern. Although yield-gaps are well studied in arable crops, we know very little about grapevine yield-gaps. In the present study, we analysed the environmental component of grapevine yield-gaps linked to climate and soil resources in the Languedoc Roussillon. We used SAFRAN data and IGP Pays d’Oc wine yields from 2010 to 2018. We selected climate and soil indicators proving to have a significant effect on average wine yield-gaps at the municipality scale. The most significant factors of grapevine yield were the Soil Available Water Capacity; followed by the Huglin Index and the Climatic Dryness Index. The Days of Frost; the Soil pH; and the Very Hot Days were also significant. Then, we clustered geographical zones presenting similar indicators, facilitating the identification of resources yield-gaps. We discussed the number of zones with the experts of IGP Pays d’Oc label, obtaining 7 zones with similar limitations for grapevine yield. Finally, we analysed the main resources causing yield-gaps and the grapevine varieties planted on each zone. Mapping grapevine resource yield-gaps are the first stage for understanding grapevine yield-gaps at the regional scale.

In this video recording of the IVES science meeting 2024, Silvia Motta (Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria – Centro di Ricerca Viticoltura ed Enologia, Asti, Italy) speaks about the effect of SO2, glutathione and tannins on Cortese white wine oxidative evolution after different oxygen intakes. This presentation is based on an original article accessible for free on OENO One.

The analysis of consumer attitudes towards wine, especially towards wines perceived as faulty, is an aspect that requires more research than has been carried out so far [1]. This study aims to analyse consumer behaviour in situations involving the consumption of faulty wines and to assess the level of acceptance of such wines.

Climate change, with rise in temperatures, is leading to an advance in the dates of phenological stages, with a loss in quality of the grape final product. Therefore, the understanding of the genetic determinants driving the phenological stages of flowering, veraison and the interval between them, represents a target for the development of grapevine’s cultivar adapted to the changing environment.
Here we conducted a GWA study to identify SNPs significantly associated to flowering time, veraison time and to the interval among them. A germplasm collection (CREA-VE in Susegana, Treviso, Italy) including 649 grapevine’s cultivar representing 365 unique genotypes was considered.