Multidisciplinary strategies for understanding ill-defined concepts

The interest in sustainable and ecologic agricultural practices in grapevine has grown significantly in recent years in the context of ecological transition. Organic mulches are treatments that support the circular economy and positively affect the soil and the plant. They are an alternative to herbicides and other conventional practices since they may influence soil moisture, erosion, structure and weed control. However, their effects on the soil and must microbiota remain unknown.

Elemental composition, measured as the concentrations of different elements present in a given tissue at a given time point, is a key indicator of vine health and development. While elemental composition and other high-throughput phenotyping approaches yield tremendous insight into the growth, physiology, and health of vines, costs and labor associated with repeated measures over time can be cost-prohibitive. Recent advances in handheld sensors that measure hyperspectral reflectance patterns of leaf tissue may serve as an affordable proxy for other types of phenotypic data, including elemental composition. Here, we ask if reflectance patterns of dried Chambourcin leaf tissue from an experimental grafting vineyard can predict the known elemental composition of those leaves.

L’Albana è il vitigno a bacca bianca tradizionale delle colline della Romagna, dove é presente per più di 2.500 ha. Con le sue uve si produce il vino “Albana di Romagna”, una delle più storiche D.O.C.G. italiane essendo stata costituita nel 1987. La maggiore concentrazione di vigneti di Albana si trova nell’Imolese e nelle colline del Ravennate, ma ben conosciuta per la qualità del prodotto é anche la produzione di Bertinoro, nel Forlivese.

Much research has sought to define the complex contribution of terroir (varieties x site x cultural practices) on wine composition. This investigation applied recent advances in chemometrics to determine relative contributions of vine growth, berry maturity and site mesoclimate to wine composition and sensory profiles of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon for two vintages.

The assessment of red wine mouthfeel relies primarily on the sensory description of its tannic properties. This evaluation could be improved by gaining a better understanding of the physicochemical properties of these tannins. Hence, the objectives of the present study were threefold: (1) to gain an insight into the sensory properties of subpopulations of proanthocyanidic tannins of different molecular sizes obtained through several ultrafiltration steps, (2) to quantify the kinetics of haze formation of these proanthocyanidic tannins in a dynamic polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) precipitation test, (3) to determine whether a correlation exists between the sensory and the precipitation data.