Satellite imagery : a tool for large scale vineyard management

Context and purpose of the study – Vine development, and hence management, depends on dynamic factors (climate, soil moisture, cultural practices etc.) whose impact can vary depending upon their temporal modalities.

The main aim of this work was to develop an analytical method to disclosure the
molecular form of eugenol precursor. Indeed eugenol is an important contributor to
Armagnac spirits typicity made with Baco blanc.

In vitro culture makes it possible to carry out specific studies that would not be possible with whole plants grown in the field or in a greenhouse. Cryopreservation allows long-term preservation without metabolic changes in the plant material and cryotherapy can be efficient in virus elimination, which is a major scientific challenge.
The preculture media of cryopreservation protocols were evaluated on three Croatian grape varieties with different antioxidants (salicylic acid, ascorbic acid and glutathione). The highest growth in vitro was achieved on the medium with the addition of glutathione and the lowest with the addition of salicylic acid.

Excell laboratory has initiated the development of an analytical method based on electrochemistry to evaluate the ability of wines to undergo or resist to oxidative phenomena. Electrochemistry is a powerful tool to probe reactions involving electron transfers and offers possibility of real-time measurements. In that context, the laboratory has implemented electrochemical analysis to assess oxidation state of different wine matrices but also in order to evaluate oxidative or reduced character of leaf and soil. Initially, our laboratory focused on dosage of compounds involved in responses of plant stresses and we were also interested in microbiological activity of soils. These analyses were compared with the measurement of redox potential (Eh) and pH which are two fundamental variables involved in the modulation of plant metabolism. Indeed, the variation of redox states of the plant reflects its biological activity but also its capacity to absorb nutriments. The Eh-pH conditions mainly determine metabolic processes involved in soil and leaf and our goal is to determine if this combined analytical approach will be sufficiently precise to detect biological evolutions (plant health, parasitic attack…).

Non-Saccharomyces yeasts not only increase microbial diversity during wine fermentation, but also have a positive effect on improving wine aroma. Among these non-Saccharomyces yeast species, Metschnikowia pulcherrima is often studied and used in winemaking in recent years, but its application in icewine has been rarely reported. In this study, indigenous M. pulcherrima strains and Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains (commercial and indigenous strains) were sequentially inoculated for icewine fermentations; meanwhile, pure S. cerevisiae fermentations were used as the control; indigenous strains used above were screened from spontaneous fermentations of Vidal blanc icewine.