Time stability of visitors’ preferences for preserving the worldwide cultural landscape alto douro wine region

Context and purpose. Nitrogen (N) is crucial for plant development but is used inefficiently, with only 30–40% of the fertilizer assimilated by crops, leading to significant environmental losses.

Climate is the major factor influencing the dynamics of the vegetative cycle and can determine the timing of phenological periods. Knowledge of the phenology of varieties, their chronological duration, and thermal requirements, allows not only for the better management of interventions in the vineyard, but also to predict the varieties’ behaviour in a scenario of climate change, giving the wine producer the possibility of selecting the grape varieties that are best adapted to the climatic conditions of a certain terroir. In 2014, Symington Family Estates, Vinhos, established two grape variety libraries in two different places with distinctive climate conditions (Douro Superior, and Cima Corgo), with the commitment of contributing to a deeper agronomic and oenological understanding of some grape varieties, in hot climate conditions. In these research vineyards are represented local varieties that are important in the regional and national viticulture, but also others that have over time been forgotten — as well as five international reference cultivars. From 2017 to 2021, phenological observations have been made three times a week, following a defined protocol, to determine the average dates of budbreak, flowering and veraison. With the climate data of each location, the thermal requirements of each variety and the chronological duration of each phase have been calculated. During maturation, berry samples have been gathered weekly to study the dynamics of sugar accumulation, between other parameters. The data was analysed applying phenological and sugar accumulation models available in literature. The results obtained show significant differences between the varieties over several parameters, from the chronological duration and thermal requirements to complete the various stages of development, to the differences between the two locations, confirming the influence of the climate on phenology and the stages of maturation, in these specific conditions.

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The development of sensory profiles is crucial for quality control and innovation in the wine industry. If quantitative descriptive analysis is the most commonly used method for establishing sensory profiles due to its robustness, it presents significant limitations.

Recently, there has been a shift toward sustainable wine production, according to EU policy (F2F and Green Deal), to reduce pesticide usage, improve workplace health and safety, and prevent the impacts of climate change. These trends have gained the interest of consumers and winemakers. The cultivation of disease resistant hybrid grape cultivars (DRHGC), known as ‘PIWI’ grapes can help with these objectives [1]. This study aimed to profile white and red wines produced from DRHGC in South Tyrol (Italy). Wines produced from DRHGCs were compared with conventional wines produced by the same wineries. The measured parameters were residual sugars, organic acids, alcohol content, pigments and other phenolics by LC-QqQ/MS, colorimetric indexes (CIELab); and volatile profiles (HS-SPME-GCxGC-ToF/MS [2]).