TerraClim, an online spatial decision support system for the wine industry

Champagne wines are produced via a two-step process: the first is an initial alcoholic fermentation of grape must that produces a still base wine, followed by a second fermentation in bottle – the prise de mousse – that produces the effervescence. This appellation produces non-vintage sparkling wines composed of still base wines assembled from different vintages, varieties, and regions. These base wines, or “reserve wines,” are typically conserved on their fine lies and used to compensate for quality variance between vintages (1). Continuously blending small amounts of these reserve wines into newer ones also facilitates preserving the producer’s “house style.”

Aim: In this work, we have optimized a robust methodology for investigating possible correlations between the phytochemical profile of wine and the terroir (including the climate), considering the specific wine-growing area. In particular, the untargeted metabolomic and sensorial profiles of Gutturnio DOC commercial wines (both still and “frizzante” types) from different production areas in the Piacenza province were determined. The geographical areas taken into consideration for this study consisted in Val Tidone, Val Nure and Val d’Arda.

Climate change poses several challenges for the wine-industry in the 21st century. Adaptation of viticultural and winemaking practices are therefore essential to preserve wine quality and typicity. Given the complex interactions between physical, biological and human factors at terroir scales, studies conducted at these fine scales allow to better define the local environment and its influences on grapevine growth and berry ripening.

Given that climate change is a continuous process, it is necessary to constantly search for new strategies that help the viticulturist sector to mitigate its consequences. All adaptation strategies will have a greater or lesser effect that in turn will be marked by the times of action. As a long-term action, a genetic breeding program to obtain new varieties descendant from Monastrell has been developed in the Region of Murcia (more specifically, in the IMIDA Research Center) since 1997. In this program, new red varieties have been developed through directed crosses of the Monastrell variety with other varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo and Syrah.

AIM: In the last years, many wineries are increasing experimentation to produce more distinguishable beverages. In this sense, the reduction of the fermentation temperature could be a useful tool because it preserves volatile compounds and prevents wines from browning, particularly in the case of white wines.