Activation of retrotransposition in grapevine

The structural diversity is one of the most remarkable characteristics of proanthocyanidins (PA). Indeed, PA in wines may vary in the B-ring and C-ring substitutes, the C-ring stereochemistry, the degree of polymerization (DP) and the linkage between the monomers. Knowing in detail the structural characteristics of the PA of a wine can help us to understand and modulate several sensorial characteristics of the wine, such as color, antioxidant properties, flavor, and mouthfeel properties. In the last years was discovered and confirmed the presence of sulfonated monomeric and oligomeric flavan-3-ols in wine [1], as well as was pointed out their importance in wine quality [1,2].

Understanding how grapevines respond to water stress is crucial for adapting viticulture to increasingly variable climatic conditions (Chaves et al., 2010).

A crucial issue associated with the long-term impact of climate change in viticulture concerns the capacity of resilience of the typical varieties currently cultivated in traditional areas. Indeed, regions that are currently characterized by optimal climatic conditions can cease to be so in the future. At the same time, new premium wine production regions may arise north of 50oN. Both these threats and opportunities are based on the assessment of a very likely gradual temperature increase along the 21st century, resulting from the ensemble mean of the state-of-the-art climate projections. Such an assessment is orienting decision-makers and stakeholders to rethink the grapevine cultivation zoning, prefiguring, for each variety, a shift at higher latitudes and/or at higher altitudes areas.

High resolution soil maps (scale : 1/3000) were created for seven of the most prestigious red wine producing estates in Bordeaux, covering in total approximately 400 ha.

The aromatic complexity of a wine results from the perception of the association of volatile molecules and each aroma can be categorized into different families. The “green” aromas family in red wines has retained our attention by its close link with the fruity perception. In that study, the “green” olfactory concept of red wines was considered through a strategy combining both sensory analysis and hyphenated chromatographic techniques including HPLC and MDGC (Multidimensional Gas Chromatography). The aromatic space of this concept was specified by lexical generation through a free association task on 22 selected wines by a panel of wine experts. Then, 70 French red wines were scored on the basis of the intensity of their “green” and “fruity” attributes.