OENO IVAS 2019 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Nitrogen status of vines influences aged wines aromas. Examples of aged Champagne reserve wines and red Bordeaux wines

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

Abstract

The sensory definition of the aging bouquet of red Bordeaux wines has been shown to be structured around seven main aromatic nuances: “undergrowth”, “spicy” “truffle”, “fresh red- and black-berry fruits”, “liquorice”, “mint”, and “toasted” (1). Some of these descriptors are also used to describe the aromatic notes of old Champagnes (2) suggesting common volatile compounds between these two types of wine.

The wine quality is closely related to its aromatic expression, influenced by the grape variety, viticultural management techniques and environmental factors, such as soil and climate (3). It has been shown that the soil influences the taste of wines and the typicity of organoleptic expression. This is largely mediated by the availability of water and nitrogen (4). The climate effect is mediated by air temperature and water balance (5).

The volatile compounds developed during wine aging and involved in the expression of the bouquet may be affected by vine water and nitrogen status (6). High nitrogen status in vines favors high nitrogen levels in both grape berries and wine. Thus, compounds such as tabanone, DMS, esters and aromatic heterocycles were measured in aged Bordeaux and Champagne reserve wines. Their concentrations were correlated to the water and nitrogen status in vine (evaluated during the season for the year production with Bordeaux vine) and the amino acids concentration in wines for Champagne reserve wine.

For both wines types, it has been revealed that the vine nitrogen status and the wine nitrogen composition have an important role on DMS, ester and aromatic heterocycles formation. Furthermore, a correlation between tabanones concentrations and the vine water status was observed.

Data collection for both red Bordeaux and Champagne reserve wines, which bouquet is well disguised, highlighted that nitrogen is involved in the various stages, common and/or different for both wine type, from vine formation to aged wine.

references:

(1) Picard, M.; Tempere, S.; de Revel, G.; Marchand, S. Food Qual. Prefer. 2015, 42, 110–122.
(2) Tominaga, T.; Guimbertau, G.; Dubourdieu, D. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2003, 51 (4), 1016–1020.
(3) Jackson, D. I.; Lombard, P. B. Am. J. Enol. Vitic. 1993, 44 (4), 409–430.
(4) Van Leeuwen, C.; Seguin, G. J. Wine Res. 2006, 17 (1), 1–10.
(5) van Leeuwen, C. In Managing Wine Quality; Woodhead Publishing Series in Food Science, Technology and Nutrition; Woodhead Publishing, 2010; Vol. 1, pp 273–315.
(6) Picard, M.; van Leeuwen, C.; Guyon, F.; Gaillard, L.; de Revel, G.; Marchand, S. Vine Front. Chem. 2017, 5

DOI:

Publication date: June 23, 2020

Issue: OENO IVAS 2019

Type: Article

Authors

Nicolas Le Menn (1, 4), Cornelis Van Leeuwen (3), Richard Marchal (2), Gilles de Revel (1), Dominique Demarville (4), Stéphanie Marchand (1) 

1) Unité de recherche Oenologie, EA 4577, USC 1366 INRA, ISVV, Université de Bordeaux, F33882 Villenave d’Ornon France 
2) Univ. de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, URVVC EA 4707, BP-1039 51687 , Reims, Cedex 2, France 
3) EGFV, Bordeaux Sciences Agro, INRA, Univ. Bordeaux, ISVV, F-33882 Villenave d’Ornon, France 
4) Champagne Veuve Clicquot, 13 rue Albert Thomas, 51100 Reims, France 

Contact the author

Keywords

Ageing, Nitrogen status , Aromas, vines

Tags

IVES Conference Series | OENO IVAS 2019

Citation

Related articles…

Elucidating vineyard site contributions to key sensory molecules: Identification of correlations between elemental composition and volatile aroma profile of site-specific Pinot noir wines

The reproducibility of elemental profile in wines produced across multiple vintages has been previously reported using grapes from a single scion clone of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Pinot noir. The grapevines were grown on fourteen different vineyard sites, from Oregon to southern California in the U.S.A., which span distances from approximately hundreds of meters to 1450 km, while elevations range from near sea level to nearly 500 m. In addition, sensorial (i.e. aroma, taste, and mouthfeel) and chemical (i.e. polyphenolic and volatile) differences across the different vineyard sites have also been observed among these wines at two aging time points. While strong evidence exists to support that grapes grown in different regions can produce wines with unique chemical and sensorial profiles, even when a single clone is used, the understanding of growing site characteristics that result in this reproducible differentiation continues to emerge. One hypothesis is that the elemental profile that a vineyard site imparts to the grape berries and the resulting wine is an important contributor to this differentiation in chemistry and sensory of wines. For example, various classes of enzymes that catalyze the formation of key aroma compounds or their precursors require specific metals. In this work, we begin to report correlations between elemental and volatile aroma profiles of site-specific Pinot noir wines, made under standardized winemaking conditions, that have been previously shown to be distinguished separately by these chemical analyses.

Short-term relationships between climate and grapevine trunk diseases in southern French vineyards

[lwp_divi_breadcrumbs home_text="IVES" use_before_icon="on" before_icon="||divi||400" module_id="publication-ariane" _builder_version="4.19.4" _module_preset="default" module_text_align="center" module_font_size="16px" text_orientation="center"...

Mapping and tracking canopy size with VitiCanopy

Understanding vineyard variability to target management strategies, apply inputs efficiently and deliver consistent grape quality to the winery is essential. However, despite inherent vineyard variability, the majority are managed as if they are uniform. VitiCanopy is a simple, grower-friendly tool for precision/digital viticulture that allows users to collect and interpret objective spatial information about vineyard performance. After four years of field and market research, an upgraded VitiCanopy has been created to achieve a more streamlined, technology-assisted vine monitoring tool that provides users with a set of superior new features, which could significantly improve the way users monitor their grapevines. These new features include:
• New user interface
• User authentication
• Batch analysis of multiple images
• Ease the learning curve through enhanced help features
• Reporting via the creation of colour maps that will allow users to assess the spatial differences in canopies within a vineyard.
Use-case examples are presented to demonstrate the quantification and mapping of vineyard variability through objective canopy measurements, ground-truthing of remotely sensed measurements, monitoring of crop conditions, implementation of disease and water management decisions as well as creating a history of each site to forecast quality. This intelligent tool allows users to manage grapevines and make informed management choices to achieve the desired production targets and remain profitable.

Permanent cover cropping with reduced tillage increased resiliency of wine grape vineyards to climate change

Majority of California’s vineyards rely on supplemental irrigation to overcome abiotic stressors. In the context of climate change, increases in growing season temperatures and crop evapotranspiration pose a risk to adaptation of viticulture to climate change. Vineyard cover crops may mitigate soil erosion and preserve water resources; but there is a lack of information on how they contribute to vineyard resiliency under tillage systems. The aim of this study was to identify the optimum combination of cover crop sand tillage without adversely affecting productivity while preserving plant water status. Two experiments in two contrasting climatic regions were conducted with two cover crops, including a permanent short stature grass (P. bulbosa hybrid), barley (Hordeum spp), and resident vegetation under till vs. no-till systems in a Ruby Cabernet (V. vinifera spp.) (Fresno) and a Cabernet Sauvingon (Napa) vineyard. Results indicated that permanent grass under no-till preserved plant available water until E-L stage 17. Consequently, net carbon assimilation of the permanent grass under no-till system was enhanced compared to those with barley and resident vegetation. On the other hand, the barley under no-till system reduced grapevine net carbon assimilation during berry ripening that led to lower content of nonstructural carbohydrates in shoots at dormancy. Components of yield and berry composition including flavonoid profile at either site were not adversely affected by factors studied. Switching to a permanent cover crop under a no-till system also provided a 9% and 3% benefit in cultural practices costs in Fresno and Napa, respectively. The results of this work provides fundamental information to growers in preserving resiliency of vineyard systems in hot and warm climate regions under context of climate change.

Exploring resilience and competitiveness of wine estates in Languedoc-Roussillon in the recent past: a multi-level perspective

The Languedoc-Roussillon wineries are facing a decline in wine yields particularly PGI yields due to many factors. Climate change is just ones, but is expected to increase in the future. There is also structurally a large heterogeneity of yield profiles among terroirs, varieties and strategies. This work investigates the link between yield, competitiveness and resilience to explore how resilient winegrowers have been in the recent past. To this end two approaches have been combined; (i) an accountancy database analysis at estate scale and (ii) municipality level competitiveness analysis. A new resilience indicator that characterizes the capacity of an estate to absorb yield variation is also defined. The FADN database between 2000 and 2018 of ex-Languedoc-Roussillon (France) and other data are used to analyse the current situation and the past evolution of competitiveness and resilience by type of estate (type of farm: PGI and/or PDO & type of commercialization: bulk and/or bottles). The net margin, which defines competitiveness, is not correlated to yield for all types but depends on the type of commercialization and the level of specialisation. The resilience indicator shows that the net margin of estates specialized in PGI is particularly sensitive to yield declines. We also show that price evolutions seem to compensate the effect of yield losses for the majority of types. Municipality scale analysis shows the links between local pedoclimate, yield, commercialization strategies and price. Overlapping a PDO with a PGI does not always increase a municipality’s PGI competitiveness. It is difficult to make links between causes and effects due to the complexity of the wine production system. Production diversification may be a solution. Resorting to the two level of analysis helps resolving the data gap that is necessary to explore the links between yield and economic performance of the wine estates in the long term.