Withering of the ‘Moscato giallo’ grapes under covered space

Valpolicella is an Italian wine producing region, famous for the production of high-quality red wines. A distinctive characteristic of this region is the extensive use of post-harvest withering.

Context and purpose of the study. Climate change is affecting wine production and induces a large variability in wine composition between vintages.

Barrel ageing is a crucial step in the wine process because it allows many changes to the wine as enrichment, colour stabilization, clarification and also a slow oxygenation. Effects of the oak barrel have to be known to prevent oxidation of the wine. The type of bung used during ageing is also a parameter to consider. Ageing sweet wines in barrel is a real challenge. These wines may need some oxygen at the beginning of ageing but they should be protected at the end of their maturation, to avoid oxidation.

A rapid and reproducible microwave (MW)-assisted acid digestion protocol was developed to determine the elemental composition of grapevine bark samples using ICP-MS.

‘Tempranillo Tinto’ is one of the most relevant grapevine cultivars worldwide. Despite its early ripening and relatively short vegetative cycle, which may not be ideal for high-quality grape and wine production in warming conditions, its long-standing cultivation has led to an intense multiplication by cuttings, which originated the high level of clonal variation currently available. Now, this intra-varietal diversity provides an interesting opportunity for cultivar improvement by identifying genotypes with better adaptation potential.