Il Soave: esempio di cultura e di scienza

Aim: This work studies how successive O2 saturations affects the color and hydroxycinnamic
acids concentration in the absence and presence of laccase from B. cinerea with the aim of better understanding the browning processes.

Materials and methods: Grapes of Muscat of Alexandria were harvested and pressed with a vertical press to extract 60% of their juice. Aliquots of 30 mL of this must were placed in 60 mL flasks equipped with a pill (PreSens Precision Sensing GmbH) for measuring oxygen by luminescence (Nomasense TM O2 Trace Oxygen Analyzer).

Harvesting grapes at adequate maturity is key to the production of high-quality red wines. Enologists and wine makers define several types of maturity, including technical maturity, phenolic maturity and aromatic maturity. Technical maturity and phenolic maturity are relatively well documented in the scientific literature, while articles on aromatic maturity are scarcer. This is surprising, because aromatic maturity is, without a doubt, the most important of the three in determining wine quality and typicity (including terroir expression). Optimal terroir expression can be obtained when the different types of maturity are reached at the same time, or within a short time frame. This is more likely to occur when the ripening takes place under mild temperatures, neither too cool, nor too hot. Aromatic expression in wine can be driven, from low to high maturity, by green, herbal, fresh fruit, ripe fruit, jammy fruit, candied fruit or cooked fruit aromas. Green and cooked fruit aromas are not desirable in red wines, while the levels of other aromatic compounds contribute to the typicity of the wine in relation to its origin. Wines produced in cool climates, or on cool soils in temperate climates, are likely to express herbal or fresh fruit aromas; while wines produced under warm climates, or on warm soils in temperate climates, may express ripe fruit, jammy fruit or candied fruit aromas. Growers can optimize terroir expression through their choice of grapevine variety. Early ripening varieties perform better in cool climates and late ripening varieties in warm climates. Additionally, maturity can be advanced or delayed by different canopy management practices or training systems.

s it is well known, myo and scyllo-inositol are two characteristic sugars of grape must and, for this reason, their quantification has been proposed to control the authenticity of the concentrated and rectificated grape must.

The shelf life of wine is a major concern for the wine industry. This is particularly true for wines intended for long cellaring, which are supposed to reach their peak after an ageing period ranging from a few months to several years, or even decades. Low, controlled oxygen inputs through the closure system are generally necessary for the wine to evolve towards its optimum organoleptic characteristics. Our previous studies have already shown that the interface between the cork and the bottleneck plays a crucial role in the transfer of oxygen into the bottled wine.

Aim: To investigate the effects of different levels of temperature and light intensity on grapevine vegetative growth and bud fruitfulness, which includes the number and size of inflorescence primordia in primary buds.