Development of a new indicator of grape skin ripening in relation to Botrytis cinerea susceptibility

In this video recording of the IVES science meeting 2025, Jordi Ballester (Centre des sciences du goût et de l’alimentation, CNRS, INRAE, Institut Agro, Université Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Dijon, France) and María-Pilar Sáenz-Navajas (Instituto de Ciencias de la Vid y el Vino (ICVV) (CSIC-UR-GR), La Rioja, Spain) speak about the concept of natural wine. This presentation is based on an original article accessible for free on OENO One.

Cover crops in vineyards bring numerous benefits, including enhanced soil health, improved water infiltration, and potential pest reduction. However, they also present risks, such as reduced vine vigour and yield due to competition for water and nutrients (Celette & Gary 2013, Garcia et al., 2018).

AIM The main lead exposure route is the intake of contaminated food, water, and alcoholic beverages, in particular wine. At the gastric level, Pb is transformed into a soluble compound which, when conveyed into the bloodstream, is the long-term cause of saturnism, intoxication with neurotoxic, nephrotoxic and hematopoietic effects, and with the neurological developmental delay of children. Pb is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a 2A class, possible carcinogenic to humans. In an opinion on possible health risks, CONTAM considered that cereals, vegetables, drinking water, and wine give a greater contribute to dietary exposure to Pb in Europe. Large quantities of wine, beer, and other alcoholic products drinking can increase daily Pb intake above the maximum permitted levels.

Oxygen transfer rate (OTR) is a technical property of closure, and it modulates the oxygen supply to the wine during its bottle aging. It’s an important parameter to take into account in the analysis of wine aroma evolution. OTR distribution is well documented for new closures, but little research has been published on its determination for aged closures. Initial oxygen release after bottling impacts the composition of wines during the first years of storage), but the link between OTR, sensory perception and aroma composition after many years of aging has not yet been clearly studied. 

French viticulture is currently facing major challenges as it enters the new century: climate change, the need to reduce inputs, societal issues, changing consumer habits, labor shortages …. Vinopôle bordeaux-aquitaine, to which the teams from the chambre d’agriculture de la gironde belong, supports winegrowers of the gironde and bergerac-duras regions in the gradual evolution of their practices.