 IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Do natural wines differ from conventionally-produced wines?

Do natural wines differ from conventionally-produced wines?

Abstract

AIM: In recent years, consumer awareness for consuming healthy and environmental sustainability products has considerably increased [1]. In an ever-changing and highly competitive environment such as the wine sector, production of wines without sulfites, or biodynamic, organic or vegan wines, has experienced an important increase to meet the new needs of consumers [2,3]. Beyond these categories of regulated products, a new concept has emerged: natural wines (NW), for which there is not an established definition or legal regulation. Rather, producers have a personal idea of naturalness under the premise of applying minimal intervention from grape to wine production [4]. In this context, it is hypothesized that self-defined natural wines are different from conventional wines (CW) in their sensory and chemical profile. The predicament of natural wine is based on anecdotic declarations and assumes that minimal intervention guarantees the production of wines with organoleptic properties able to express the “terroir” and thus promote wine diversity, plurality and sensory typicity against the risk of standardization of CW. In addition, we want to test the hypothesis that NW are healthier than conventional by evaluating toxic-related metabolites.

METHODS: Twenty-eight commercial Spanish white wines were studied. Half were NW (i.e., winemakers declare to follow minimal intervention during grape and wine production) and half were conventional wines (CW). Pairs of NW-CW sharing variety and region of production were selected. They were submitted to sensory analysis following free sorting task and chemical characterization for conventional oenological parameters, histamines, ochratoxin A, ethyl carbamate and metals. RESULTS: NW present significantly higher pH levels, volatile acidity, color intensity, turbidity and higher contents of the histamine putrescine than CW, while lower levels of malic acid and sulfites were observed in NW. No significant differences were found for the levels of heavy metals and the rest of chemicals evaluated.Concerning sensory properties, while a higher proportion of NW than CW presented winemaking-related defaults, NW with positive fruity notes could also be identified.

CONCLUSIONS:

This work could partly confirm the main hypothesis by showing certain significant sensory and chemical differences between NW and CW. It appears necessary to carry out similar studies with a wider number of wines to achieve deeper knowledge in this field.

DOI:

Publication date: September 22, 2021

Issue: Macrowine 2021

Type: Article

Authors

Carlota Sánchez, Alejandro, Suárez, Samuel, Rivas, Pablo, Alonso, Eva, Parga, Jordi, Ballester, María-Pilar, Sáenz-Navajas,

Instituto De Ciencias De La Vid Y Del Vino (Ur-Csic-Gr). La Rioja, Spain.
Instituto De Productos Naturales Y Agrobiología, Csic, Tenerife, Spain
Université De Bourgogne, Dijon, France Purificación,

Contact the author

Keywords

wine, natural, conventional, production method , sensory characterisation, sorting task

Citation

Climate, Viticulture, and Wine … my how things have changed!

The planet is warmer than at any time in our recorded past and increasing greenhouse emissions and persistence in the climate system means that continued warming is highly likely. Climate change has already altered the basic framework of growing grapes for wine production worldwide and will likely continue to do so for years to come. The wine sector can continue to play an important role in leading the agricultural sector in addressing climate change. From developing on…

Different soil types and relief influence the quality of Merlot grapes in a relatively small area in the Vipava Valley (Slovenia) in relation to the vine water status

Besides location and microclimatic conditions, soil plays an important role in the quality of grapes and wine. Soil properties influence…

Climate and the evolving mix of grape varieties in Australia’s wine regions

The purpose of this study is to examine the changing mix of winegrape varieties in Australia so as to address the question: In the light of key climate indicators and predictions of further climate change, how appropriate are the grape varieties currently planted in Australia’s wine regions? To achieve this, regions are classified into zones according to each region’s climate variables, particularly average growing season temperature (GST), leaving aside within-region variations in climates. Five different climatic classifications are reported. Using projections of GSTs for the mid- and late 21st century, the extent to which each region is projected to move from its current zone classification to a warmer one is reported. Also shown is the changing proportion of each of 21 key varieties grown in a GST zone considered to be optimal for premium winegrape production. Together these indicators strengthen earlier suggestions that the mix of varieties may be currently less than ideal in many Australian wine regions, and would become even less so in coming decades if that mix was not altered in the anticipation of climate change. That is, grape varieties in many (especially the warmest) regions will have to keep changing, or wineries will have to seek fruit from higher latitudes or elevations if they wish to retain their current mix of varieties and wine styles.

Effect of one-year cover crop and arbuscular mycorrhiza inocululation in the microbial soil community of a vineyard

The microbial composition of the soil is an important factor to consider in viticulture, since its influence on the “terroir” and on the organoleptic properties of the wine have been demonstrated. Different agronomic techniques have the potential to modify the composition and functionality of the soil microbial community. Maintaining green covers is known to increase soil microbial diversity. The direct application of inoculum of beneficial microorganisms to the soil has also been used to increase their abundance. However, the environmental conditions of each site seem to have a determining weight in the result of these practices. In this study, we compared the effect on the microbial community of a cover crop with legumes in autumn and the inoculation of grapevines with commercial inoculum bases on Rhizophagus irregularis and Funeliformis mosseae in the previous spring. The study has been carried out in a vineyard in Binissalem, Mallorca, Spain. After applying the treatments, we will analyze the soil microbial communities using the data obtained from Illumina amplification of soil DNA from the 16S and ITS regions to analyze bacteria and fungi community, respectively. In addition, we will record the physicochemical characteristics of the soil at each sampling point. The result showed that agronomic management, in the short term, has less influence than soil characteristics on the composition of the soil microbiome. With these results, we can conclude that in a vineyard, agricultural techniques should focus on improving the characteristics of the soil to improve the biodiversity of the soil microbiota.

Bioclimatic shifts and land use options for Viticulture in Portugal

Land use, plays a relevant role in the climatic system. It endows means for agriculture practices thus contributing to the food supply. Since climate and land are closely intertwined through multiple interface processes, climate change may lead to significant impacts in land use. In this study, 1-km observational gridded datasets are used to assess changes in the Köppen–Geiger and Worldwide Bioclimatic (WBCS)