Environmental and viticultural practice effects on the phenolic composition of grapes: impact on wine sensory properties

Several factors like vineyard site, climate, grape variety, ripeness, physical health of the grapes and pest management influence the populations of indigenous yeasts on grapes and later on in spontaneous fermentations.

During wine alcoholic fermentation, yeasts produce volatile aroma compounds from sugar and nitrogen metabolism. Some of the metabolic pathways leading to these compounds have been known for more than a century.

Grape phenolic compounds are very important constituents of red wine because, in addition to their antioxidant properties, they contribute to color, astringency and bitterness, oxidation reactions, interactions with proteins and ageing behavior of wines. The aim of our study was to assess the structural characteristics of grape and wine proanthocyanidins of Agiorgitiko variety and to evaluate the influence of the vintage year. Twelve vineyard locations were designated in the Nemea wine region. For three consecutive years (2012-2014), the grapes were harvested at technological maturity and the method of phloroglucinolysis was employed to determine the mean degree of polymerization (mDP) and subunit composition of the samples.

The agro-ecological transition in winegrowing can benefit from the environmental assessment of practices to inform producers’ technical choices. life cycle assessment (lca) evaluates the environmental impact of a product over its entire life cycle. this paper takes a look at the tools available for the detailed assessment and eco-design of winegrowing practices, their uses and developments in the vitarbae research project (2023-2026). this project aims to establish and equip support and training courses for the agroecological transition in viticulture and fruit arboriculture.

The technique of crossing, whether free or controlled, has always been a source of variability allowing the selection of new varieties with improved fitness.