Screening table grape cultivars using cell wall ELISA and glycan microarrays for berry firmness and quality parameters

The reality of terroir is reflected by the typicality that it confers on the wine. The relationship between the origin of wine and its quality did already exist before the appearance of œnological science. Producers and merchants have always tried to improve wine quality in order to satisfy their clients.

The South Western Cape of South Africa is exposed to strong southerly and south easterly synoptic winds during the growth period of the grapevine. The development of sea breezes in the afternoon is also a phenomenon associated with the ripening period of grapes cultivated in this coastal area. Wind is one of the environmental variables having the greatest spatial variation but the implications of regular exposure to wind for the performance of the grapevine has not yet been determined for vineyards in the South Western Cape. This study was initiated to meet this need.
The study was conducted in a hedge-trellised vineyard of Vitis vinifera L. cv Merlot with north east – south west row direction. Thirty experimental sites, each consisting of 14 vines, were identified as being exposed to wind or sheltered based on hand-held anemometer readings during the 2001/2002 season. Four stationary anemometers were strategically positioned between the thirty sites. Stomatal conductance and leaf temperature were measured with a PP systems porometer. Vegetative and yield measurements were performed during the 2002/2003 season. The t-test of equal variance was used to determine significant differences in measured parameters between exposed and sheltered grapevines.
Stomatal conductance and leaf area were significantly reduced by exposure to wind. This was associated with a significant reduction in the leaf area of primary shoots, related to shorter shoots, but a significant augmentation of secondary shoot leaf number and area. The number of bunches per vine and yield were also reduced for exposed vines. The berry potassium content was significantly increased for exposed grapevines.
This demonstrates that exposure to wind can result in significant within-vineyard, and potentially between-vineyard, variability in grapevine physiology, vegetative growth, yield and berry composition, with implications for wine style and quality.

Dans le cadre de recherches sur la mise en évidence et le déterminisme d’un «effet terroir »un réseau de parcelles du cépage Cabernet Franc greffé sur S04, a été suivi de 1979 à 1990 en Val de Loire (A.O.C. Saumur-Champigny, Chinon et Bourgueil). Des analyses chimiques (N,P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn) ont été réalisées sur le sol, les feuilles au stade véraison, les moûts en cours de maturation et à la vendange et enfin sur le vin, pour 18 sites (répartis dans 12unités terroirs de base) et 7 millésimes différents.

Grape cane is a viticultural by-product that is currently underused or not used at all. Therefore, it bears a high potential for valorization due to the presence of anti-microbially active stilbenoids, being biologically relevant for plant defense. These compounds are highly interesting for applications in the agricultural sector as well as for the food and feed industry.

Protein stabilization is an important part of the winemaking process of white wines, and in this work we present the results of protein stabilization of different monovarietal wines (Xarel.lo, Chardonnay, and Muscat) by a continuous stabilizing filtration process using a column packed with zirconium oxide operating in a continuous regime in a closed loop at pilot scale.