Climate change and economic challenge – strategies for vinegrowers, winemakers and wine estates

The seasonal’s climatic conditions determine the composition of grapes at harvest as they affect the vine’s physiology and development. High temperatures during the grape ripening period cause a high accumulation of sugars and degradation of fruit acidity ,and alter the synthesis of polyphenols. Therefore, some vineyard management can be applied in order to modify grapevine impact on climate variability. One example is the pre-pruning at the beginning of grape ripening, which can delay the ripening period and modify the composition of the grapes at harvest. This work aims to evaluate the pre-pruning field technique on yield components and alcohol content in wines of Tannat and Merlot varieties.

The microbial composition of the soil is an important factor to consider in viticulture, since its influence on the “terroir” and on the organoleptic properties of the wine have been demonstrated. Different agronomic techniques have the potential to modify the composition and functionality of the soil microbial community. Maintaining green covers is known to increase soil microbial diversity. The direct application of inoculum of beneficial microorganisms to the soil has also been used to increase their abundance. However, the environmental conditions of each site seem to have a determining weight in the result of these practices. In this study, we compared the effect on the microbial community of a cover crop with legumes in autumn and the inoculation of grapevines with commercial inoculum bases on Rhizophagus irregularis and Funeliformis mosseae in the previous spring. The study has been carried out in a vineyard in Binissalem, Mallorca, Spain. After applying the treatments, we will analyze the soil microbial communities using the data obtained from Illumina amplification of soil DNA from the 16S and ITS regions to analyze bacteria and fungi community, respectively. In addition, we will record the physicochemical characteristics of the soil at each sampling point. The result showed that agronomic management, in the short term, has less influence than soil characteristics on the composition of the soil microbiome. With these results, we can conclude that in a vineyard, agricultural techniques should focus on improving the characteristics of the soil to improve the biodiversity of the soil microbiota.

Study the influence of sample preparation methods on the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) profiling for fermentative beverages by GCxGC-TOFMS analysis. METHODS: Five common sample preparation methods were tested on pooled red wine, white wine, cider, and beer. Studied methods were DHS, Liquid-liquid extraction, mSBSE, SPE and SPME. VOCs were analyzed by GCxGC-TOFMS followed by data analysis with ChromaTOF. RESULTS: The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) profiling results were very dependent on the sample preparation methods.

Today, the concept of precision vine management (or site-specific viticulture) has a great relevance. It is based on the practice of a different management in relation to the different features of the crop site. In this way, all practices should be adapted to the land spatial variability and should be linked to the real needs of vines.

Grapevine Red Blotch disease (RB) is a recently discovered disease that has become a major concern for the viticulture and winemaking industry in California, USA. The causal
agent, Grapevine Red Blotch Virus (GRBV) was identified in 2011 and its presence was confirmed in several states in the US, in Canada, and in Switzerland. It has been demonstrated that RB compromised the regulation of ripening by suppressing specific ripening events, altering the expression patterns of transcription factors and causing hormonal imbalances in Zinfandel.