Neural networks and ft-ir spectroscopy for the discrimination of single varietal and blended wines. A preliminary study.

There is an urgent need to develop protective measures for grapevines in historically significant dry-farming vineyards, particularly on Mediterranean islands.

The european union has estimated that energy consumption for wine production is about 1,750 million kwh per year, of which 500 million kwh is attributable to italy. In recent years, Italy has emerged as the world’s leading wine producer with about 50 million hectoliters per year. About 20 percent (9.8 million hectoliters) of Italian wine is marketed after refermentation according to the Charmat-Martinotti method.

Alcoholic fermentation plays a crucial role in the winemaking process. In addition to producing ethanol, it results in the formation of various secondary metabolites that significantly influence the wine’s characteristics.

Linking wine composition to fruit composition is difficult due to the numerous biochemical pathways and substrate transformations that occur during fermentation

Rotundone is the main aroma compound responsible for peppery notes in red wine. This positive and very potent molecule has an odor threshold of 8 ng/L in water and 16 ng/L in red wine. It has been detected in several grape varieties with some of the highest concentrations recorded in Syrah, Duras, Tardif and Noiret, an interspecific hybrid grown in the North-East of the USA. If several winemaking practices have been identified to lower rotundone in wine, up to date, no enological solution has proved its efficiency to maximize it. This means that efforts to produce high rotundone wines must be undertaken in vineyards. This work provides practical ways that can be used by winegrowers to modulate rotundone levels in their wines.