Terroir 2020 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Intraregional profiles of varietal thiols and precursors in Sauvignon Blanc juices and wines from the Adelaide Hills

Intraregional profiles of varietal thiols and precursors in Sauvignon Blanc juices and wines from the Adelaide Hills

Abstract

Aims: To investigate the intraregional variation of varietal thiol precursors and free thiols in Sauvignon blanc grape juices and experimental wines arising from the Adelaide Hills Geographical Indication (GI) in South Australia.

Methods and ResultsVitis vinifera L. cv Sauvignon blanc grape parcels (n = 21, approx. 8 kg each, encompassing 5 clones) were hand harvested from different blocks within seven commercial vineyards in the Adelaide Hills GI during the 2018 vintage. Parcels were divided into subsets for winemaking and freezing experiments. Amino acid (AA) and thiol precursor concentrations in juice were determined using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection and stable isotope dilution assay (SIDA) using HPLC with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), respectively, and free thiols in wine were quantified by SIDA with HPLC-MS/MS, after derivatisation with 4,4’-dithiodipyridine. Intraregional variations in grape ripeness were evident according to total soluble solids content, pH, and titratable acidity, even within single locations or for the same clones. Significant differences in the glutathionylated precursor to 3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol (3-SH) were found among several locations whereas for the cysteinylated variant of 3-SH, one location was distinct from the rest. Variation in precursor concentrations was also noted from different blocks within a single vineyard location but was not dependent on grape ripeness. Fermentations progressed without any obvious relationship to location, and wines that were high in 3-SH were also usually high in 3-sulfanylhexyl acetate (3-SHA). One location had significantly higher levels of thiols in wine despite the juice not being the highest for grape-derived precursors, and also gave a substantial concentration of 4-methyl-4-sulfanylpentan-2-one in comparison to other locations within the GI. The AA profile of juices was found to vary according to location, and certain AAs were strongly correlated to thiol precursor concentrations, but relationships of AAs with free thiols in wine were generally weak. Additionally, enhancements in the concentrations of precursors in juice (up to 19-fold) and free thiols in wine (up to 10-fold) were revealed from freezing whole grape bunches in contrast to using fresh juice.

Conclusions: 

Intraregional variation was noted for thiols in wine, and precursors and amino acids in juice, for 21 Sauvignon blanc samples collected from within the Adelaide Hills region. The effects of terroir were implicated in explaining the differences in grape composition, and the potential interactions among grape amino acids and thiol precursors in berries and thiols in wine were revealed.

Significance and Impact of the Study: Sauvignon blanc is a significant variety produced in the Adelaide Hills GI but no information was available on the effects of location within the GI on grape and wine composition with respect to varietal thiols. This was the first study of intraregional variations of thiol precursors, amino acids, and free thiols in Sauvignon blanc juices and wines that were produced in a consistent manner. A remarkable enhancing effect of freezing was noted for thiol precursors in juice, and importantly, free thiols in wine.

DOI:

Publication date: March 17, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2020

Type: Video

Authors

Liang Chen1,a, Dimitra L. Capone1,2, Emily L. Nicholson3, David W. Jeffery1,2*

1 School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Waite Campus, PMB 1 Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia
2 Australian Research Council Training Centre for Innovative Wine Production, The University of Adelaide, PMB 1 Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia
3 CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Locked Bag 2, Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia

aPresent address: Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin, Université de Bordeaux, 210 chemin de Leysotte CS 50008, 33882 Villenave d’Ornon Cedex, France

Contact the author

Keywords

List of different keywords (keyword1, keyword2, keyword3)

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2020

Citation

Related articles…

Effects of organic mulches on the soil environment and yield of grapevine

Farming management practices aiming at conserving soil moisture have been developed in arid and semiarid-areas facing water scarcity problems. Organic mulching is an effective method to manipulate the crop-growing microclimate increasing crop yield by controlling soil temperature, and retaining soil moisture by reducing soil evaporation. In this sense, the effectiveness of different organic mulching materials (straw mulch and grapevine pruning debris) applied within the row of a vineyard was evaluated on the soil and on the vine in a Tempranillo vineyard located in La Rioja (Spain). Organic mulches were compared with a traditional bare soil management technique (based on the use of herbicides to avoid weed incidence). Mulching coverages favourably influenced the soil water retention throughout all the grapevine vegetative cycle. However, the soil-moisture variation was not the same under different mulching materials, being the straw mulch (SM) the one that retained more water in comparison with grapevine pruning debris (GPD) based-cover. The changes of soil moisture in the upper surface layer (0–10 cm) were highly dynamic, probably due to water vapour fluxes across the soil-atmospheric interface. However, both, SM and GPD reduced these fluctuations as compared with bare soils. A similar trend occurred with soil temperature. Both organic mulches altered soil temperature in comparison with bare soil by reducing soil temperature in summer and raising it in winter. Moreover, the same buffering effect for the temperature on the covered soil also remains in the deeper layers. To conclude, we could see that organic mulching had a positive impact on soil-moisture storage and soil temperature and the extent of this effect depends on the type of mulching materials. These changes led to higher rates of photosynthesis and stomatal conductivity compared to bare soils, also favouring crop growth and grape yields.

Current climate change in the Oplenac wine-growing district (Serbia)

Serbian autochthonous vine varieties Smederevka (for white wines) and Prokupac (for rosé and red wines) are the primary representatives of typical characteristics of wines and terroir of numerous wine-growing areas in Serbia. In the past, these varieties were the leading vine varieties, however, as the result of globalization of winemaking and the trend of consumption of wines from widely prevalent vine varieties, they were replaced by introduced international varieties. Smederevka and Prokupac vine varieties are characterized by later time of grape ripening, and relative sensitivity to low temperatures. Climate conditions can be a restrictive factor for production of high-quality grapes and wine and for the spatial spreading of these varieties in hilly continental wine-growing areas.
This paper focuses on the spatial analysis of changes of main climate parameters, in particular, analysis of viticultural bioclimatic indices that were determined for the purposes of viticulture zoning of wine-growing areas in the period 1961-2010, and those same parameters determined for the current, that is, referential climate period (1988-2017). Results of the research, that is, analysis of climate changes indicate that the majority of examined climate parameters in the Oplenac wine-growing district improved from the perspective of Smederevka and Prokupac vine varieties. These studies of climate conditions indicate that changes of analyzed climate parameters, that is, bioclimatic indices will be favorable for cultivation of varieties with later grape ripening times and those more sensitive to low temperatures, such as the autochthonous vine varieties Smederevka and Prokupac, therefore, it is recommended to producers to more actively plant vineyards with these varieties in the territory of the Oplenac wine-growing district.

Analysis of Cabernet Sauvignon and Aglianico winegrape (V. vinifera L.) responses to different pedo-climatic environments in southern Italy

Water deficit is one of the most important effects of climate change able to affect agricultural sectors. In general, it determines a reduction in biomass production, and for some plants, as in the case of grapevine, it can endorse fruit quality. The monitoring and management of plant water stress in the vineyard

20-Year-Old data set: scion x rootstock x climate, relationships. Effects on phenology and sugar dynamics

Global warming is one of the biggest environmental, social, and economic threats. In the Douro Valley, change to the climate are expected in the coming years, namely an increase in average temperature and a decrease in annual precipitation. Since vine cultivation is extremely vulnerable and influenced by the climate, these changes are likely to have negative effects on the production and quality of wine.
Adaptation is a major challenge facing the viticulture sector where the choice of plant material plays an important role, particularly the rootstock as it is a driver for adaptation with a wide range of effects, the most important being phylloxera, nematode and salt, tolerance to drought and a complex set of interactions in the grafted plant.
In an experimental vineyard, established in the Douro Region in 1997, with four randomized blocs, with five varieties, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Barroca, Touriga Franca and Tinta Roriz, grafted in four rootstocks, Rupestris du Lot, R110, 196-17C, R99 and 1103P, data was collected consecutively over 20 years (2001-2020). Phenological observations were made two to three times a week, following established criteria, to determine the average dates of budbreak, flowering and veraison. During maturation, weekly berry samples were taken to study the dynamics of sugar accumulation, amongst other parameters. Climate data was collected from a weather station located near the vineyard parcel, with data classified through several climatic indices.
The results achieved show a very low coefficient of variations in the average date of the phenophases and an important contribution from the rootstock in the dynamic of the phenology, allowing a delay in the cycle of up to10-12 days for the different combinations. The Principal Component Analysis performed, evaluating trends in the physical-chemical parameters, highlighted the effect of the climate and rootstock on fruit quality by grape varieties.

Downscaling of remote sensing time series: thermal zone classification approach in Gironde region

In viticulture, the challenges of local climate modelling are multiple: taking into account the local environment, fine temporal and spatial scales, reliable time series of climate data, ease of implementation and reproducibility of the method. At the local scale, recent studies have demonstrated the contribution of spatialization methods for ground-based climate observation data considering topographic factors such as altitude, slope, aspect, and geographic coordinates (Le Roux et al, 2017; De Rességuier et al, 2020). However, these studies have shown questions in terms of the reproducibility and sustainability of this type of climate study. In this context, we evaluated the potential of MODIS thermal satellite images validated with ground-based climate data (Morin et al, 2020). Previous studies have been encouraging, but questions remain to be explored at the regional scale, particularly in the dynamics of the massive use of bioclimatic indices to classify the climate of wine regions. The results at the local scale were encouraging, but this approach was tested in the current study at the regional scale. Several objectives were set: 1) to evaluate the downscaling method for land surface temperature time series, 2) to identify regional thermal structure variations. We used weekly minimum and maximum surface temperature time series acquired by MODIS satellites at a spatial resolution of 1000 m and downscaled at 500 m using topographical variables. Two types of analyses were performed: