Monitoring arthropods diversity in the “Costières de Nîmes” viticulture landscape

Vinification trials were carried out between 2018 and 2021 in the experimental winery at Laimburg Research Centre, Alto Adige, to test the effect of grape stem inclusion during fermentation of Pinot Noir.

The use of compost as amendment in agriculture is a well-established practice, strongly recommended for numerous benefits.

The phenolic compounds (cathechins, cynnamic acids, anthocyanidins) in wines made from 6 vine-varieties (Sangiovese, Cabernet S., Nero d’Avola, Foglia Tonda, Pinot N., Mazzese) grown in 4 different pedoclimatic zones of Tuscany (Arezzo, Grosseto, Pisa and Lucca) have been analyzed by HPLC.

Grape harvest time is one of the most fundamental aspects that affect grape quality and thus wine quality. Many factors influence the decision of harvest; among them technological and phenolic maturity of grape. Technological ripeness is mainly related to sugar concentration, titratable acidity and pH. Conventional methods for chemical analysis of grapes are normally sample-destructive, time-consuming, include laborious sample preparation steps, and generate chemical waste, thereby limiting their utility in online/in-line quality monitoring. Moreover, destructive analyses can be performed only on a limited number of fruit pieces and, thus, their statistical relevance could be limited. This study evaluated the ability of a lab-scale hyperspectral imaging (HYP-IM) technique to predict titratable acidity, organic acid and sugar content of grapes. Samples of Cabernet franc and Chenin blanc grapes were consecutively collected six times at weekly intervals after veraison. The images were recorded thanks to the hyperspectral imaging camera Pica L (Resonon) in a spectral range from 400 to 1000 nm. Statistics were performed using Microsoft Xlstat software. Successively, the berries were analyzed for their sugar (glucose and fructose) and organic acid (malic and tartaric acid) content and titratable acidity according to usual methods.

The addition of fungal chitosan in wine is allowed since 2009 to release some spoilage microorganisms such as Brettanomyces bruxellensis (OIV/OENO 338A/2009; EC 53/2011). This yeast is able to produce volatil phenols and is responsible of organoleptic deviations compromising quality and typicality of red wines [1]. Despite the fact that fungal chitosan is highly renewable, no toxic and non-allergenic, its use remains marginal because this treatment is relatively recent (compare to sulphites treatment) and information are contradictory between different studies described in literature. For all these reasons,