Comparing the chemical and sensory consequences of grapevine smoke exposure in grapes and wine from different cultivars and different wine regions in Australia

Le “terroir” est dans tous les discours, les articles, les étiquettes et les publicités. Le voca­ble est en situation d’utilisation euphorique. Indiscutablement l’emploi historique est agri­cole, puis viticole, mais il n’est jamais juridique.

Rapid processing of grapes after harvest has always been considered essential for achieving a balanced sensory wine profile.

The research is part of the “Ecovinegoals” project, financed by Interreg Adrion funds. It aims to encourage the adoption and dissemination of agroecological practices in intensive wine-growing areas. The study focuses on cost analysis of the wine-growing landscape enhancement in an organic winery in order to provide a useful tool for winemakers to direct their investments in green infrastructures. One of the Italian pilot areas of the Ecovinegoals project is the Venezia Biodistrict, characterized by viticulture in a flat reclamation area of 105,800 hectares.

As the frequency and intensity of drought events increase, understanding the mechanisms of plant resilience to water deficit is crucial. To maintain an appropriate plant yield, a common practice is the application of high amounts of fertilizers with negative environmental impacts. The single and combined effect of water deficit and nutrient availability, namely nitrogen (N) and potassium (K), in Vitis Vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache was evaluated. Two-year-old grapevine plants grafted on SO4 rootstock were transferred in pots under semi-environmental conditions. During the growing season, plants were either maintained well-watered (100% ETc) or subjected to a controlled water deficit irrigation (33% ETc).

In a highly competitive worldwide market, a current challenge for the beverage sector is to diversify the range of products and to offer wines and spirits with typicity and character.

During alcoholic fermentation, wine yeasts generate a large variety of volatile metabolites, including acetate esters, ethyl fatty acid esters, higher alcohols, volatile fatty acids and volatile sulfur compounds that contribute to the aroma profile of wine. These molecules, refered as fermentative aromas, are the most abundant volatile compounds synthetized by yeasts and the metabolic pathways involved in their formation have been well characterized. Furthermore, other molecules with a major organoleptic impact may be produced during wine fermentation including terpene derivatives. However, little information is available on the contribution of yeasts to the formation of these molecules, in particular on their ability to synthethise de novo the terpens derivatives or to produce hydrolytic enzymes involved in the release of varietal precursors.