Terroir 2020 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Characterization of the thiol aromatic potential of a new resistant grape variety: Floreal

Characterization of the thiol aromatic potential of a new resistant grape variety: Floreal

Abstract

Aims: Due to climate change and the desire to decrease enological inputs (organic farming), the vineyard has to be modified and the selection of new resistant grape varieties as an alternative is researched intensively today. From January 2018, four new grape varieties that are resistant against mildew and odium have been added to the official catalogue and are now available for planting new vineyards in France: Floreal, Artaban, Vidoc and Voltis. Floreal wines have been described as “very aromatic and very intense with specific notes of grapefruit” during tasting. Unfortunately, there is no data, either qualitative or quantitative, in literature to describe the aromatic quality of this resistant grape variety.

Today we know that the olfactory descriptor of grapefruit is mainly characteristic of 3-mercaptohexan-1-ol (3MH). To reach a deeper understanding of the aromatic potential of Floreal grapes, a combined study of the effects of both viticultural (nitrogen foliar spraying) and enological (cold lees settling) parameters has been carried out.

Methods and Results: After pressing Floreal grapes, corresponding must (with or without cold settling) was inoculated with a high b-lyase activity dry yeast strain at 20 g/hL. Temperature of fermentation was maintained close to 16 °C and we monitored the kinetic of alcoholic fermentation by measuring the rate of CO2 release. Following this, several parameters were quantified: cysteinylated and glutathionylated thiol precursors (during grape maturation and in the must), and 3MH (in the final wine) by SIDA-UPLC-MS/MS. An innovative analysis of both reduced and oxidized forms of 3MH and 3MHA has been also performed in order to indicate possible “wine oxidizability” of such a resistant variety. 

Conclusion: 

First of all, Floreal wines have concentrations in 3MH and 3MHA close to 1300 ng/L (sum of both compounds) which is relatively low in comparison with Colombard or Sauvignon blanc from Gers or Loire Valley, respectively. Thus, Floreal wine aromaticity cannot be only explained by 3MH and 3MHA, and other powerful thiols may be implicated such as 4MMP, opening an avenue for identification of new aroma compounds. 

A surprising and interesting result was the fact that cold lees settling did not significantly improve the level of both 3MH and 3MHA in Floreal wines, whereas this technological practice is commonly used for its positive effect in non-resistant varieties such as Sauvignon blanc. 

Significance and Impact of the Study: Therefore, accurate characterization of this new grape variety and those that will be developed in the coming years represents a great challenge: adapting viticultural and enological practices to produce high quality wines in the future. 

DOI:

Publication date: March 25, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2020

Type : Video

Authors

Gabriel Dournes1, Erick Casalta1, Alain Samson2, Evelyne Aguera2, Jean-Roch Mouret1, Aurélie Roland1*

1UMR SPO, INRAE, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier SupAgro, 2 place Pierre Viala, 34060 Montpellier Cedex 2, France
2 UE Pech Rouge, INRAE, 11430 Gruissan, France

Contact the author

Keywords

Thiol precursors, 3-mercaptohexan-1-ol, nitrogen foliar spraying, cold settling 

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2020

Citation

Related articles…

From a local to an international scale: sensory benchmarking of PDO wines. Quincy and Reuilly PDO wines (Sauvignon blanc) as a case study (France)

In a collective marketing strategy, the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) can be used as a quality indicator. To highlight terroir specificities, it is useful to know how the wines are positioned on the local, national or international market from a sensory point of view. This is especially true for a comparison of varietal wines (e.g. Sauvignon blanc). We focus on the case of two closed Loire Valley PDO (France): Quincy and Reuilly. Three distinct tastings were organized. Firstly, at the local level comparing the 2 PDO (11 and 9 wines, 17 professional assessors); secondly at a regional level adding 3 closed PDO: Menetou-Salon, Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé (3 wines per PDO, 16 assessors) and thirdly at an international level comparing these 5 PDO with Sauvignon Blanc wines coming from South Africa, New Zealand and Chile (1 to 3 wines per PDO, 19 assessors). All the wines were from the 2019 vintage and were considered to have a traditional elaboration process without contact with oak. A sensory descriptive analysis was performed using an aroma wheel allowing to combine a Check-All-That-Apply methodology, often used in sensory benchmarking, with a hierarchical structuration of the attributes. The aim is to facilitate data acquisition in a professional context without common training, to consider the hierarchical relationships among the attributes during the data analysis and to be able to characterize wines with a large range of sensorial variability. We use univariate, multivariate and clustering analyses. Similarities and differences between Quincy and Reuilly PDO wines and other Sauvignon blanc wines were identified. Specific attributes can distinguish the two PDO and different proximities exist with other local PDO, while clear differences were observed compared to international wines. Our study contributes to propose and discuss a method to do a wine sensory benchmarking highlighting sensory specificities linked to origin.

Proposal of zonification and characterization of terroirs in the Yalde-Najerilla-Uruñuela vine growing area (DOC Rioja, Spain), based on the soil influence

Natural Terroir Units (NTU) are being delimited in vine growing area DOCa Rioja, in collaboration with Uruñuela Cooperative, to characterized specific and singular Tempranillo (Vitis vinifera

Apports des mesures de résistivité électrique du sol dans les études sur le fonctionnement de la vigne et dans la spatialisation parcellaire

La mesure de la résistivité électrique des sols est une technique non destructive, spatialement intégrante, utilisée depuis peu en viticulture. L’utilisation d’appareils de mesures performant et de logiciels adaptés permet de traiter les données afin de pouvoir visualiser en deux ou trois dimensions les variations de textures ou d’humidité d’un sol.

A NEW STRATEGY AND METHODOLOGY FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION OF POLYPHENOLS IN FINING PRECIPITATE

Polyphenols are secondary metabolite widely distributed in plant kingdom such as in fruits, in grapes and in wine. During the winemaking process, polyphenols are extract from the skin and seed of the berries. Fining is an important winemaking step just before bottling which has an impact on wine stabilization and clarification. Most the time, fining agent are animal or vegetal protein while some of them can be synthetic polymer like PVPP or natural origin like bentonite.

Chemical and sensory evaluation of Bordeaux wines (Cabernet sauvignon and Merlot) and correlation with wine age

This study was carried out on 24 vintages of Cabernet sauvignon and on 7 vintages of Merlot produced by two different Bordeaux growing areas. Proanthocyanidin monomers and oligomers, and several parameters of the proanthocyanidin fraction were analytically assessed.