The impact of vine nitrogen status on aroma potential expression in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Sauvignon blanc

Sforzato di Valtellina DOCG is a reinforced dry red wine produced in the mountain area of Valtellina alpine valley (North Italy), using ‘Nebbiolo’ grapes that undergo a withering process. This process impacts on the grape composition due to a sugar concentration and changes in secondary metabolism influencing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and polyphenols.

Armenia, a small country in the South of the Caucasus, has been rediscovering its wine-growing past since the discovery in 2007 of archaeological wine-growing remains dating back around 8,000 years. They are among the oldest in the world. Despite a great diversity of grape varieties, Armenian winegrowers did not have sufficiently organized genetic collections to produce plants and satisfy the growing demand for planting.

The occurrence of aroma and macromolecule constituents in sparkling wines, directly influencing their organoleptic characteristics, is affected by several factors, including the grape cultivar, base-wine particularities, inoculated yeasts, the aging time, and winemaking practices [1].

Temperature control is crucial in wine production, starting from grape harvest to the bottled wine storage. Climate change and global warming affect the timing of grape ripening, and harvesting is often done during hot summer days, influencing berry integrity, secondary metabolites potential, enzyme and oxidation phenomena, and even fermentation kinetics. To curb this phenomenon, pre-fermentative cold storage can help preserve the grapes and possibly increase the concentration of key secondary metabolites. In this study, the effect of grape pre-fermentative cold storage was assessed on the ‘Moscato bianco’ white grape cultivar, known for its varietal terpenes (65% of free terpenes represented by linalool and its derivatives) and widely used in Piedmont (Italy) to produce Asti DOCG wines.

Most oxidation reactions in wine require iron as a catalyst. The iron content of wine has decreased greatly in recent decades due to the use of low or no release cellar materials; however, in some cases it is still necessary to adopt winemaking practices to remove excess iron from wine, prevent its oxidation, and be able to reduce the addition of sulfur dioxide and other antioxidants.