Soil Temperature and Climate Change: Implications for Mediterranean Vineyards 

The perception of wine quality is determined by the assessment of multiple sensory stimuli, including aroma, taste, mouthfeel and visual aspects. With so many different parameters contributing to the overall perception of wine quality, it is important to consider the contribution of all metabolites in a wine when attempting to relate composition to quality.

The assessment of red wine mouthfeel relies primarily on the sensory description of its tannic properties. This evaluation could be improved by gaining a better understanding of the physicochemical properties of these tannins. Hence, the objectives of the present study were threefold: (1) to gain an insight into the sensory properties of subpopulations of proanthocyanidic tannins of different molecular sizes obtained through several ultrafiltration steps, (2) to quantify the kinetics of haze formation of these proanthocyanidic tannins in a dynamic polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) precipitation test, (3) to determine whether a correlation exists between the sensory and the precipitation data.

The wine sector generates a considerable amount of wealth but is facing a growing problem of fraud. Wine counterfeiting is one of the oldest and most common cases of food fraud worldwide. Therefore, the authenticity and traceability of wine are major concerns for both the industry and consumers. To address these issues, robust and reliable analysis and control methods are necessary. Several methods have been developed, ranging from simple organoleptic tests to more advanced methodologies such as isotopic techniques or residual radioactivity measurements.

The frequency of water deficits is increasing in many grape-growing regions due to climate change.

The role of soils and bedrock geology has long been acknowledged as a fundamental component of terroir. In South Africa the influence of geology is misunderstood and some important geological components will be highlighted in this paper.