Climate variability and its effects in the Penedès vineyard region (NE Spain)

Insufficient acidity in grapes from warm(ing) climates is commonly corrected through addition of tartaric acid during vinification, and less so with other organic acids. One alternative approach involves bio-acidification with certain strains of Lachancea thermotolerans (LT) via lactic acid production during fermentation.

Environment features and management operations on shoot and leaves modify the canopy during the vegetative season, changing the grapevine microclimate and the ratio between photo synthetic sources (the canopy) and productive sinks (the grapes).

Climate change impacts grape production worldwide and in California drought and salinity became increasingly challenging for grape growers to maintain sustainable production and fruit quality.

Amarone is an Italian red wine with worldwide recognition and high added value. In Amarone wines, grapes undergo a withering process before vinification; this leads to a modification in the concentrations of sugars, acids, and secondary metabolites.

In a recent study several genes controlling the acidification properties of the wine yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been identified by a QTL approach [1]. Many of these genes showed allelic variations that affect the metabolism of malic acid and the pH homeostasis during the alcoholic fermentation. Such alleles have been used for driving genetic selection of new S. cerevisiae starters that may conversely acidify or deacidify the wine by producing or consuming large amount of malic acid [2]. This particular feature drastically modulates the final pH of wine with difference of 0.5 units between the two groups.