 IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Know thy enemy: oxygen or storage temperature?

Know thy enemy: oxygen or storage temperature?

Abstract

It is well known that high oxygen levels and high ageing temperatures are detrimental to white wine’s composition and ageing capacity. However, these results, though valuable, have often been obtained under extreme temperatures of oxygen levels that wine will normally not be exposed to (Cejudo-Bastante et al.,2013). Previous work performed have shown that multiple oxygen additions to wine can lead to the degradation of certain important compounds such as varietal thiols and SO2 (Coetzee et al., 2012). However, the interactive effects between oxygen additions normally experienced during bottling and temperatures that wine are exposed to during bottle ageing, have not received sufficient attention, especially in terms of sensorial development of the wine. The main aim of this work was thus to investigate the effects of different oxygen levels at bottling and subsequent bottle ageing temperatures on white wine’s chemical and sensorial development over time. Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc wines were both produced under relative reductive conditions and then bottled at 0.3, 3 and 6 mg/L total packaged oxygen and closed under screw cap. These wines were then stored at either 15 or 25 °C for 6 and 12 months and analysed for a wide array of compounds (antioxidants, colour, varietal thiols and major volatiles) as well as sensorially with descriptive analyses using a trained panel. Oxygen levels in the wine decreased more rapidly in the wines stored at 25 °C. However, the parameter tested that was influenced by the different oxygen additions to the largest extent was the SO2 levels, which decreased the most at the highest oxygen levels. Time was the largest contributor in terms of changes in the yellow/brown colour and glutathione levels. Varietal thiols levels were not affected by the oxygen levels, but higher temperatures led to more rapid acid hydrolyses of 3MHA in the case of the Chenin Blanc wines. Certain fruity esters also decreased quicker at the higher storage temperatures. Time and especially storage temperature had the largest effects on the sensory composition of the Sauvignon Blanc wines, with oxygen influencing it to almost no extent. Higher storage temperatures led to less fruity aromas such as grapefruit and passion fruit after 12 months, with more baked apple. The trends were less clear in the Chenin Blanc after 6 months, but oxygen led to significantly lower levels of the guava descriptors, with little difference observed between the treatments after 12 months. This work indicates that wine producers should strive to keep oxygen pickup to a minimum during bottling, but that such quality control procedures is probably to a large extent negated if the wines are exposed to too high storage temperatures during subsequent bottle ageing.

DOI:

Publication date: September 14, 2021

Issue: Macrowine 2021

Type: Article

Authors

Wessel Du Toit

South African Grape and Wine Research Institute, Department of Viticulture and Oenology, Stellenbosch University,James Walls, South African Grape and Wine Research Institute, Department of Viticulture and Oenology, Stellenbosch University Carien Coetzee, Basic wine

Contact the author

Keywords

oxidation, bottling, bottle ageing

Citation

An analytical framework to site-specifically study climate influence on grapevine involving the functional and Bayesian exploration of farm data time series synchronized using an eGDD thermal index

Climate influence on grapevine physiology is prevalent and this influence is only expected to increase with climate change. Although governed by a general determinism, climate influence on grapevine physiology may present variations according to the terroir. In addition, these site-specific differences are likely to be enhanced when climate influence is studied using farm data. Indeed, farm data integrate additional sources of variation such as a varying representativity of the conditions actually experienced in the field. Nevertheless, there is a real challenge in valuing farm data to enable grape growers to understand their own terroir and consequently adapt their practices to the local conditions. In such a context, this article proposes a framework to site-specifically study climate influence on grapevine physiology using farm data. It focuses on improving the analysis of time series of weather data. The analytical framework includes the synchronization of time series using site-specific thermal indices computed with an original method called Extended Growing Degree Days (eGDD). Synchronized time series are then analyzed using a Bayesian functional Linear regression with Sparse Steps functions (BLiSS) in order to detect site-specific periods of strong climate influence on yield development. The article focuses on temperature and rain influence on grape yield development as a case study. It uses data from three commercial vineyards respectively situated in the Bordeaux region (France), California (USA) and Israel. For all vineyards, common periods of climate influence on yield development were found. They corresponded to already known periods, for example around veraison of the year before harvest. However, the periods differed in their precise timing (e.g. before, around or after veraison), duration and correlation direction with yield. Other periods were found for only one or two vineyards and/or were not referred to in literature, for example during the winter before harvest.

austrianvineyards.com: online viewer of all designations of Austrian wine

To digitally record and present all the origins of Austrian wines in the same perfect and clear way was the motivation for the Austrian Wine Marketing Board (Austrian Wine) to start with the project in 2018. In June 2021 the results were presented to the public in an online viewer showing all the designations of Austrian wine, available at https://austrianvineyards.com in a largely barrier-free manner. The online viewer provides tailored individual maps fitted to the respective zoom level. The smallest unit of wine-origins in Austria is called Ried and is displayed in a plot-specific manner highlighting areas under vine. Information on the Ried include administrative district, winegrowing municipality, cadastral municipality, large collective vineyard site, specific winegrowing region, generic winegrowing region, winegrowing area and, in many cases, an illustrative picture. Complementary data on the size, elevation (minimum-maximum), orientation (in 8 sectors plus flat) and gradient (minimum, maximum, average) are based on the area under vine according to the EU’s Integrated Administration and Control System. Additional information covers climate data. The diagrams are taken from the monthly breakdown of data in the annals of the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics, Austria provide a display of values for air temperature, precipitation, and sunshine hours for the reference year and the long-term average. Seasonal aggregated data on temperature, precipitation, and sunshine hours complete the display. Short descriptions with emphasis on geology and soil, field name in historical maps, etymology of the denomination, and main planted variety complements the available information for the main designations in the online viewer. These descriptions are compiled by winegrowers, geologists, historians, and journalists. All the information and data can be extracted to a pdf-file. Printed vineyard maps are also available. Missing content regarding wine origins in Styria will be completed in winter 2021/22.

Spatial variability of temperature is linked to grape composition variability in the Saint-Emilion winegrowing area

Elevated temperature during the grape maturation period is a major threat for grape quality and thus wine quality. Therefore, characterizing the grape composition response to temperature at a larger scale would represent a crucial step towards adaptation to climate change. In response to changes in temperature, various physiological mechanisms regulate grape composition. Primary and secondary metabolisms are both involved in this response, with well-known effects, for example on anthocyanins, and lesser known effects, for example on aromas or aroma precursors. At the field scale or at the regional scale, however, numerous environmental or plant-specific factors intervene to make the effects of temperature difficult to distinguish from overall variability. In this study, it was attempted to overcome this difficulty by selecting well-characterized situations with differing temperatures.
A long-term study of air temperature variability across several Merlot vineyards in the Saint-Emilion and Pomerol wine producing area found significant temperature differences and gradients at various time scales linked to environmental factors. From this study area, a few sites were selected with similar age, soil and training system conditions, and with repeated and contrasted temperature differences during the maturation period. The average temperature difference during the maturation period was about 2°C between cooler and warmer sites, a difference similar to that expected under future climate change scenarios. In close vicinity to the temperature sensors at each site, grape berries were sampled at different times until full maturity during 2019 and 2020. Also, berries from bunches on either side of the row were analyzed separately, allowing an investigation of bunch exposure effect associated with the coupling of berry temperature and solar radiation. Four replicates of pooled berries for each time – site – bunch exposure combination were obtained and analyzed for biochemical composition. Analyses of variance of the biochemical composition data collected at different sampling times reveal significant effects associated with temperature, site, and bunch azimuth. For instance, anthocyanins in grape skins are clearly influenced by temperature and solar radiation exposure, with up to 30% reduction in warmer conditions.

Local adaptation tools to ensure the viticultural sustainability in a changing climate

[lwp_divi_breadcrumbs home_text="IVES" use_before_icon="on" before_icon="||divi||400" module_id="publication-ariane" _builder_version="4.19.4" _module_preset="default" module_text_align="center" module_font_size="16px" text_orientation="center"...

Effects of organic mulches on the soil environment and yield of grapevine

Farming management practices aiming at conserving soil moisture have been developed in arid and semiarid-areas facing water scarcity problems. Organic mulching is an effective method to manipulate the crop-growing microclimate increasing crop yield by controlling soil temperature, and retaining soil moisture by reducing soil evaporation. In this sense, the effectiveness of different organic mulching materials (straw mulch and grapevine pruning debris) applied within the row of a vineyard was evaluated on the soil and on the vine in a Tempranillo vineyard located in La Rioja (Spain). Organic mulches were compared with a traditional bare soil management technique (based on the use of herbicides to avoid weed incidence). Mulching coverages favourably influenced the soil water retention throughout all the grapevine vegetative cycle. However, the soil-moisture variation was not the same under different mulching materials, being the straw mulch (SM) the one that retained more water in comparison with grapevine pruning debris (GPD) based-cover. The changes of soil moisture in the upper surface layer (0–10 cm) were highly dynamic, probably due to water vapour fluxes across the soil-atmospheric interface. However, both, SM and GPD reduced these fluctuations as compared with bare soils. A similar trend occurred with soil temperature. Both organic mulches altered soil temperature in comparison with bare soil by reducing soil temperature in summer and raising it in winter. Moreover, the same buffering effect for the temperature on the covered soil also remains in the deeper layers. To conclude, we could see that organic mulching had a positive impact on soil-moisture storage and soil temperature and the extent of this effect depends on the type of mulching materials. These changes led to higher rates of photosynthesis and stomatal conductivity compared to bare soils, also favouring crop growth and grape yields.