Politics meets terroir. The story of Prosecco – Are GI’s just a protectionist racket?

The phenological stages and the content of the anthocyanins of non-irrigated cultivars Blatina, Vranec, Kratoshija, Prokupec and Stanushina were study

AIM: The diversity and complexity of the fermentation ecosystem during wine making limits the successful prediction of wine characteristics. The use of selected starter cultures has allowed a better control of the fermentation process and the production of wines with established characteristics. Among them, the use of mixed fermentations with Starmerella bacillaris and Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeasts has gained attention in recent years due to the fructophylic nature of the first and the ability of this inoculation protocol to reduce the acetic acid and ethanol content of the wines.

Brettanomyces bruxellensis is considered as the main spoilage yeast in oenology. Its presence in red wine leads to off-flavour due to the production of volatile phenols such as 4-vinylphenol, 4-vinylguaiacol, 4-ethylphenol and 4-ethylguaiacol, whose aromatic notes are unpleasant (e.g. animal, leather, horse or pharmaceutical). Beside wine, B. bruxellensis is commonly isolated from beer, kombucha and bioethanol production, where its role can be described as negative or positive. Recent genomic studies unveiled the existence of various populations.

In a previous zoning program (1998-2002), climatic and pedological factors were able to distinguish 14 terroir within the Soave DOC area where wine characteristics are well recognizable. Nevertheless, in the past vinegrowers identified several vineyards where a better quality of the grapes and wines could be obtained. So, « beyond the zonation » will aim to suggest a new methodology to characterise the Cru, starting with 15 vineyards that were selected in the Soave Classico DOC area. In the year 2005, a meteorological station was positioned in each vineyard and temperature data were collected; because of the limited area of investigation, only 3 rain sensors were set up.

In the next years the territorial environmental certification could become realistic if the following conditions will be fully satisfied:
– the enhancement of the environmental awareness among the industries, the public administration, the authorization bodies, the living people of that territory as well as the tourists and visitors.