Macrowine 2021
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Quality of Merlot wines produced from terraced vineyards and vineyards on alluvial plains in Vipava valley, Slovenia (pdo)

Quality of Merlot wines produced from terraced vineyards and vineyards on alluvial plains in Vipava valley, Slovenia (pdo)

Abstract

AIM: Different factors affect the style and quality of wine and one of the most important are environmental factors of vineyard location. The aim of this study was to compare the quality of Merlot wines produced from grapes growing on skeletal and dry soils of terraced vineyards and deep loamy soils of alluvial plains of Vipava Valley, a warm climate winegrowing district in Slovenia.

METHODS: Five vineyards on terraces and five on alluvium plains were chosen. Viticulture parameters such as number of buds, number of clusters and leaf area on each vine were unified in 2019 and 2020 as described in Sivilotti et al. (2020). Stem water potential (SWP) was measured during the season (Deloire and Heyns, 2011). 5 kg of grapes were sampled in triplicates at the time of grape maturity. Basic physicochemical parameters of grapes were determined before microvinification. Microvinifications were analysed after alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. Concentration of total phenols (TP), total anthocyanins (TA), high (HMWP) and low molecular weight (LMWP) proanthocyanidins (PAS) were determined spectrophotometrically as described in Rigo et al. (2000). Moreover, structural characteristics of PAs in wines, i.e. mean degree of polymerisation (mDP), percentage of galloylaton (%G) and percentage of prodelphinidins (%P) were determined by UHPLC-DAD-MS/MS as described in Lisjak et al. (2019) and in Sivilotti et al. (2020). Esters were analysed by GC-MS (Bavčar and Baša Česnik, 2011) and higher alcohols by GC-FID (Bavčar et al., 2011).

RESULTS: SWP was more negative on terraces. According to basic physico chemical parameters and darker seed colour, grapes from terraces showed advanced ripening in comparison to grapes grown in alluvial plains. Wines from terraces had higher concentrations of TA, TP, HMWP, ash and total dry extract in comparison to wines from alluvial plains and PAs reported higher %G. Furthermore, aromatic profiles of wines were also different. In general, higher concentrations of higher alcohols and lower concentrations of esters were detected in wines from terraces.

CONCLUSIONS:

 The Merlot wines from grapes sampled in terraced vineyards differed in chemical composition from those from alluvial plains. In general, wines from terraces had higher polyphenol content, some quality parameters such as ash and total dry extract, structural differences of grape tannins and different profile of some aroma compounds

DOI:

Publication date: September 10, 2021

Issue: Macrowine 2021

Type: Article

Authors

Alenka Mihelčič

Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, Hacquetova ulica 17, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia ,Andreja VANZO, Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, Hacquetova ulica 17, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia Borut VRŠČAJ, Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, Hacquetova ulica 17, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia Paolo SIVILOTTI, University of Udine, via delle Scienze 206, 33100 Udine, Italy Klemen LISJAK, Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, Hacquetova ulica 17, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Contact the author

Keywords

terraces, alluvial plains, soil, stem water potential, wine quality, polyphenols, volatile compounds

Citation

Related articles…

FUNGAL DIVERSITY AND DYNAMICS IN CHAMPAGNE VINEYARDS: FROM VINE TO WINE

Champagne is a well-known wine region in Northern France with distinct terroirs and three main grape varieties. As for any vineyard, wine quality is highly linked to the microbiological characteristics of the raw materials. However, Champagne grape microbiota, especially its fungal component, has yet to be fully characterized. Our study focused on describing this mycobiota, from vine to small scale model wine, for the two main Champagne grape varieties, Pinot Noir and Meunier, using complementary cultural and omics approaches.

Basic Terroir Unit (U.T.B.) and quality control label for honey; making the designations of origin (A.O.C) and« crus » more coherent

Considérant d’une part la judicieuse mise au point d’un label de qualité contrôlée des miels suisses (STÖCKLI et al. 1997), considérant d’autre part l’élaboration d’une carte des paysages végétaux (HEGG et al. 1993),

Influence of dehydration and maceration conditions on VOCs composition and olfactory profile of Moscato Bianco passito sweet wine

Among the Vitis vinifera L. cv. Moscato, Moscato Bianco is the oldest and most cultivated one in Europe (1). According to the OIV Focus 2015, Italy is the country with the largest cultivated area of Moscato Bianco with about 12500 hectares (2), that is used to produce well-known wines (i.e., Moscato Passito in Piedmont, Moscato di Trani in Puglia, and Moscatello di Montalcino in Tuscany), mainly obtained from partially dehydrated grapes (1). Different dehydration techniques can strongly modify the chemical compounds of oenological interest, among which Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) (1) that are the main responsible for the varietal sensory character of the final wine.

Characterization of the DOC wine “Colli Piacentini Gutturnio” obtained in three traditional areas

The poster presents the results of the 3rd year of activity of the project “Characterization of the wine productions of the italian regions. The DOC wine Colli Piacentini Gutturnio”.

Disentangling the sources of variation in stomatal regulation in field-grown cultivar-rootstock combinations

The inherent variability of Nature poses challenges for researchers to draw clear conclusions from field experiments. Identifying and assessing adaptations to climate change requires agronomic field trials.