Nitrogen status of vines influences aged wines aromas. Examples of aged Champagne reserve wines and red Bordeaux wines

Wine aroma represents one of the most important quality parameter and it is influenced by various factors (viticulture and vinification techniques, climate or storage conditions etc.). Wines produced from conventionally and ecologically grown grapes of same variety have different chemical composition and aroma profile [1]. Aroma profile of wine can be also influenced by additional treatment of wine, such as concentration of wine by reverse osmosis (RO). Reverse osmosis represents a pressure-driven membrane separation technique that separates the initial wine on the retentate or concentrate that is retained on the membrane, and permeate that passes through it [2]. Wine permeate usually containes water, ethanol, acetic acid and several low molecular weight compounds that can pass through the membrane. This property enables the use of reverse osmosis membranes for wine concentration, partial dealcoholization, acetic acid or aroma correction [3,4].

Biodiversity loss in agrosystems is partly due to landscape simplification (field enlargement, hedgerows removal…) that led to a loss of heterogeneity of the overall landscape.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), as defined by the European Commission, is a strategic framework through which companies integrate social, environmental, and economic sustainability into their operations (European Commission, 2001).

Climate change is leading to an increase in average temperature and in the frequency and severity of heatwaves that is already significantly affecting grapevine phenology and berry composition (Webb et al., 2010). This is compounded by water stress, which is well known to increase the vulnerability of grapevines and berries to heatwaves. In hot climate regions like australia, grape production is only possible due to relatively secure supplies of water for irrigation. However, the upper temperature limits for berry survival of well-watered grapevines remains to be tested.

In a collective marketing strategy, the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) can be used as a quality indicator. To highlight terroir specificities, it is useful to know how the wines are positioned on the local, national or international market from a sensory point of view. This is especially true for a comparison of varietal wines (e.g. Sauvignon blanc). We focus on the case of two closed Loire Valley PDO (France): Quincy and Reuilly. Three distinct tastings were organized. Firstly, at the local level comparing the 2 PDO (11 and 9 wines, 17 professional assessors); secondly at a regional level adding 3 closed PDO: Menetou-Salon, Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé (3 wines per PDO, 16 assessors) and thirdly at an international level comparing these 5 PDO with Sauvignon Blanc wines coming from South Africa, New Zealand and Chile (1 to 3 wines per PDO, 19 assessors). All the wines were from the 2019 vintage and were considered to have a traditional elaboration process without contact with oak. A sensory descriptive analysis was performed using an aroma wheel allowing to combine a Check-All-That-Apply methodology, often used in sensory benchmarking, with a hierarchical structuration of the attributes. The aim is to facilitate data acquisition in a professional context without common training, to consider the hierarchical relationships among the attributes during the data analysis and to be able to characterize wines with a large range of sensorial variability. We use univariate, multivariate and clustering analyses. Similarities and differences between Quincy and Reuilly PDO wines and other Sauvignon blanc wines were identified. Specific attributes can distinguish the two PDO and different proximities exist with other local PDO, while clear differences were observed compared to international wines. Our study contributes to propose and discuss a method to do a wine sensory benchmarking highlighting sensory specificities linked to origin.