Chemical boundaries of wine identity: rationalizing grape and wine aroma diversity for improved terroir management

Interest in the pairing, or matching, of wine with music goes way back, with commentators initially using musical metaphors merely to describe the wines that they were writing about. More recently, however, this has transformed into a growing range of multisensory tasting events in which wine and music are deliberately paired to assess, or increasingly to illustrate, the impact of the latter on

Oloroso Sherry is a typical fortified wine from Jerez de la Frontera (south of Spain). It is one of the most used in the seasoning of oak barrels, called Sherry Cask, destined in this area for ageing brandies or condiments as wine vinegars. Brandy de Jerez is an European Geographical Indication for grape-derived spirits. Its special organoleptic characteristics are due to its traditional dynamic ageing in Sherry Casks. American oak is the most common wood employed in Jerez area, where Brandy de Jerez is exclusively manufactured. During ageing period of Sherry and brandies, the wood is not only a container, it is involved in several physicochemical process with the Sherry or the distillate. Oak wood is the responsible of the presence of many compounds in the products, affecting their aroma and chemical composition and having a high influence in their final quality. Moreover, the seasoned wood with Sherry wine could transfer the compounds from wine into the brandy, improving its aroma and flavor.

Lanthanides, together with scandium and yttrium, make up the group of Rare Earth Elements (REEs). An official method for analysis of the bioavailable REEs accumulated by plants, depending mainly on soil characteristics, chemical speciation in soil and the specific ability of the plant, is still lacking.

The Bull’s Blood of Eger (‘Egri Bikavér’) is one of the most reputed red wines in Hungary and abroad, produced in the Northeastern part of the country.

The ripening of grapevine berries encompasses complex morphological and physiological processes, especially at veraison. Berry shrivel (BS) is a ripening physiological disorder affecting grape berries with visible symptoms appearing short after veraison. The main symptoms of BS are a strong reduction in sugar accumulation, inhibited anthocyanin biosynthesis and high pH values. The most popular red grape cultivar in Austria “Blauer Zweigelt” (Vitis vinifera L.) is specifically prone to develop the BS ripening disorder and up to date a no specific cause or causes could be identified. Recently omics approaches have identified and characterized key processes during grapevine ripening. Among them a small subset of genes, called SWITCH, have been described as markers for the onset of the ripening process in fruits.