Les paysages viticoles des régions Vale Dos Vinhedos et Monte Belo (Brésil), un lien avec l’Etrurie

The reflections presented here are a synthesis of a set of research on the construction of a scientific logic concerning the relations between the terroir, the vine, the wine, and on the study of a product, the wine, considered as the resulting from many interactions between factors of various orders. This work has benefited greatly from discussions of an epistemological as well as a technical nature with all the researchers at URVV (Angers) and with our colleagues at the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine, over several years.

Considering that global warming is changing berry ripening timing and progression, uncovering the molecular mechanisms and identifying key regulators governing berry ripening could provide important tools in maintaining high quality grapes and wine. NAC (NAM/ATAF/CUC) transcription factors represent an interesting family due to their key role in the developmental processes control, such as fruit-ripening-associated genes expression, and in the regulation of multiple stress responses. Between the 74 NAC family members, we selected 12 of them as putative regulators of berry ripening: NAC01, NAC03, NAC05, NAC11, NAC13, NAC17, NAC18, NAC26, NAC33, NAC37, NAC60 and NAC61.

In a long-term experiment carried out in Chinon vineyard (37, France) during 23 years, the effects of several organic amendments were studied on soil, vine, grapes and wine. Four main treatments were compared on a calcareous sandy soil: control without organic amendment, dry crushed pruning wood at 2.1.t-1.ha-1.year-1 (D1), cow manure at 10 t-1. ha-1.year-1 (D1) and cow manure applied at 20 t-1.ha-1.year-1 (D2). D1 levels were calculated to fill the annual humus losses by mineralization.

According to the Kyoto Protocol objectives, it’s necessary to identify alternative carbon dioxide sinks, and vineyard soils could be a significant opportunity.

The accession Criolla Chica Nº2 (CCN2) is catalogued as a floral mutation of cultivar Criolla Chica (synonym for cv. Listán Prieto). Contrary to what is observed in hermaphrodite-cultivated varieties like Criolla Chica, CCN2 exhibits a prevalence of masculinized flowers. Aiming to study the incidence and phenotypical implications of this mutation, CCN2 plants were deeply studied using Criolla Chica ‘Ballista’ (CCBA) as control plants. For each CCN2 plant, two inflorescences per shoot were sampled and segmented into proximal, mid and distal positions, relative to the pedicel. Flowers were observed through magnifying lens and classified according to OIV151 descriptor.