The terroir of Carnuntum: investigation of the physiogeographic characteristics and interdisciplinary study of viticultural functions of the Carnuntum wine district, Austria

The recovery of ancestral or minority vine varieties has been gaining great interest in recent years, among other reasons because it is likely that some of these varieties, due to the fact that they are found in relict areas, have a greater potential for adaptation to external factors (biotic or abiotic) and can minimize the effects that climate change is causing in viticulture. Varieties that can be grown at altitude are currently being sought to combat rising temperatures and prolonged extreme drought conditions. In Catalonia, the Pyrenean expansion of vineyard cultivation is documented from the 10th century and has been related to the “small climatic optimum” (9th-12th centuries) and also to seigniorial power.[1] But different adverse climatic periods and the arrival of Phylloxera by the late 19th century made many of these crops disappear.[2]

Explore the variability and contribution of non-wine Saccharomyces yeasts and bottle aging on the release and generation of aromas of semi-synthetic Tempranillo wines, together with an in-depth study of the capacity of these strains to provide good fermentative and oenological qualities

AIM: Red grape varieties are characterized by different phenolic contents (prominently tannins and anthocyanins) found in skins and seeds.

Newer sequencing technologies have allowed for the addition of microbes to the story of terroir. The same environmental factors that influence the phenotypic expression of a crop also shape the composition of the microbial communities found on that crop. For fermented goods, such as wine, that microbial community ultimately influences the organoleptic properties of the final product that is delivered to customers. Recent studies have begun to study the biogeography of wine-associated microbes within different growing regions, finding that communities are distinct across landscapes. Despite this new knowledge, there are still many questions about what factors drive these differences. Our goal was to quantify differences in yeast communities due to management style between seven pairs of conventional and biodynamic vineyards (14 in total) throughout Oregon, USA. We wanted to answer the following questions: 1) are yeast communities distinct between biodynamic vineyards and conventional vineyards? 2) are these differences consistent across a large geographic region? 3) can differences in yeast communities be tied to differences in metabolite profiles of the bottled wine? To collect our data we took soil, bark, leaf, and grape samples from within each vineyard from five different vines of pinot noir. We also collected must and a 10º brix sample from each winery. Using these samples, we performed 18S amplicon sequencing to identify the yeast present. We then used metabolomics to characterize the organoleptic compounds present in the bottled wine from the blocks the year that we sampled. We are actively in the process of analysing our data from this study.

Il Nebbiolo, uno dei vitigni più rappresentativi della viticoltura piemontese. é caratterizzato da una maturazione tardiva, una elevata vigoria e una bassa fertilità basale. La sua popolazione inoltre presenta una tale variabilità morfologica che é consuetudine suddividere il vitigno in diverse sottovarietà (Lampia, Rosé, Michet, Balla per citare solo quelle dell’areale albese) ognuna con presunte distinte caratteristiche morfologiche e produttive.