Aromatic stability of Syrah and Petit Verdot tropical wines from Brazil

With contemporary climate change, cultivated Vitis vinifera L. is at risk as climate is a critical component in defining ecologically fitted plant materiel. While winegrowers can draw on the rich diversity among grapevine varieties to limit expected impacts (Morales-Castilla et al., 2020), replacing a signature variety that has created a sense of local distinctiveness may lead to several challenges. In order to sustain wine identity in uncertain climate outcomes, the study of intra-varietal diversity is important to reflect the adaptive and evolutionary potential of current cultivated varieties. The aim of this ongoing study is to understand to what extent can intra-varietal diversity be a climate change adaptation solution. With a focus on early (Sauvignon blanc, Riesling, Grolleau, Pinot noir) to moderate late (Chenin, Petit Verdot, Cabernet franc) ripening varieties, data was collected for flowering and veraison for the various studied accessions (from conservatory plots) and clones. For these phenological growing stages, heat requirements were established using nearby weather stations (adapted from the GFV model, Parker et al., 2013) and model performances were verified. Climate change projections were then integrated to predict the future behaviour of the intra-varietal diversity. Study findings highlight the strong phenotypic diversity of studied varieties and the importance of diversification to enhance climate change resilience. While model performances may require improvements, this study is the first step towards quantifying heat requirements of different clones and how they can provide adaptation solutions for winegrowers to sustain local wine identity in a global changing climate. As genetic diversity is an ongoing process through point mutations and epigenetic adaptations, perspective work is to explore clonal data from a wide variety of geographic locations.

Evidence for a specific effect of soil mineral composition on wine character is largely anecdotal. However, soil potassium supply to the vine must be properly balanced between deficiency and excess for good fruit quality.

The phenolic profile of the red grapevine varieties berries is a key quality factor and several techniques have been applied to improve it (Perez-Lamela et al., 2007; Singh SK and Sharma, 2010). The last decade the application of resistance elicitors and phytohormones is an innovative viticultural technique (Paladines-Quezada et al., 2021; Alenazi et al., 2019).In the present study, leaves and berries of a Greek red indigenous variety (Mouhtaro) sprayed with two elicitors, benzothiadiazole and chitosan and a plant hormone abscisic acid, during veraison.

After bottling, the wine continues to evolve during storage. The choice of the stopper is an important factor in this evolution. In addition to the oxygen permeability of the closure, the migration of stopper compounds into the wine can also have an impact on the wine organoleptic properties. Many studies have shown that transfers of volatile compounds from the stoppers into the wine can happen depending on the type of closure used (1). Moreover, when cork-made stoppers are used, the migration of phenolic compounds from the stopper into the wine can also occur (2, 3).

The identification and management of intra-vineyard variability are key to precision viticulture, and sensors have been proven to be highly efficient tools for detecting these variations.