The influence of culture medium on the dynamics of fermentation of wine yeasts

It is well-known that there is a relationship between the “terroir” and the characteristics of grapes and quality of wines. However, adequate grape variety and other cultural factors should be also taken into account

Nebbiolo (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the most important wine red cultivar of North-west Italy. A better understanding of the complex relations among grape aromatic and phenolic maturity and environmental factors may strongly contribute to the improvement of the quality of Nebbiolo wines.

Context and purpose of the study. Climate change is affecting wine production and induces a large variability in wine composition between vintages.

In the context of global change, the environmental conditions are expected to be more stressful for viticulture. The choice of the rootstock may play a crucial role to improve the adaptation of viticulture to new biotic and abiotic threats (Ollat et al., 2016). However, the selection of interesting traits in rootstock breeding programs is complex because of the combination of multiple targets in a same ideotype. In this sense, the integration of studies about the genetic architecture for desired biotic and abiotic response traits allow us to identify genomic regions to combine and those with interesting pleiotropic effects.

Scientific information on grapevine response to predicted levels of climate parameters is scarce and not sufficient to properly position the Wine Industry for the future. It is critical that the combined effects of increased temperature and CO2 on grapevines should be examined, without omitting the important link to soil water conditions. The purpose of this study is to quantify the effects of envisioned changes in climatic parameters on the functioning and growth of young grafted grapevines under controlled conditions, simulating expected future climate changes. Scientific knowledge of precisely how the newly-planted grapevine will react morphologically, anatomically and physiologically (at leaf, root and whole plant level) to the expected changes in important climatic parameters will enable producers to make better-informed decisions regarding terroir, cultivar and rootstock choices as well as the adaptation of current cultivation practices.