Rare earth elements distribution in grape berries

An intelligent packaging might, among others, provide information and allow monitoring of the quality of the packed product or its surrounding environment. A recent project on micro-flow wine bottles closed with aluminium screw cap and tightness liner, highlighted the importance of monitoring the internal overpressure continuously, in real-time and at least for 72 hours, since the internal pressure on the tightness liner and the micro-flow are related. Real-time and continuous measurements are not the standard methods of measurement of the overpressure, yet. The most used equipment for the determination of the pressure in wine bottle is the aphrometer, a destructive device that supplies a single value of pressure.

Una de las biotecnologías más potentes para disminuir el pH en vinos de zonas cálidas y en variedades de pH elevado es el uso de la levadura no-saccharomyces lachancea thermotolerans. Esta especie es capaz de formar ácido láctico a partir de azúcares, reduciendo al mismo tiempo ligeramente el grado alcohólico. Por lo tanto, mejora dos de los principales problemas de los vinos de regiones afectadas por el calentamiento global. El ácido láctico es un ácido orgánico con una buena integración sensorial en el sabor del vino, y también química y biológicamente estable durante el envejecimiento del vino.

The quality of wine is assessed, among other things, by its color, which is mainly due to its anthocyanin content. These pigments are polyphenols that give red, purple and blue hues depending on the relative proportion of anthocyanins produced by the action of flavonoid 3’5′ hydroxylase (delphinidin-3-glucoside, petunidin-3-glucoside, malvidin-3-glucoside) or flavonoid 3′ hydroxylase (cyanidin-3-glucoside, peonidin-3-glucoside). To study the genes involved in this biosynthetic pathway, we focused on Vitis vinifera cv. Tannat, known for producing wines with higher anthocyanin content and darker purple color compared to most red grape varieties. In this work, we have performed RNA-Seq analysis of skins during berry development, taking green and red berries at 50% veraison as separate samples, as an experimental strategy to focus on the differential expression of genes of interest.

Wine aroma analysis can be done by sensorial or instrumental analysis, the latter involving several me-thodologies based on olfactometric detection, electronic noses or gas chromatography. Gas Chromatography has been widely used for the study of the volatile composition of wines and depending on the detection system coupled to the chromatographic system, quantification and identification of individual compounds can be achieved.

Les paysages viticoles méditerranéens présentent une originalité qui ne se retrouve nulle part ailleurs : ils associent des garrigues très odoriférantes à des parcelles de vignes souvent qualitatives. La connaissance empirique des vins du Languedoc par leurs dégustateurs a conduit la Chambre d’Agriculture de l’Hérault à supposer que les arômes de la garrigue environnante peuvent se retrouver dans les vins (arômes de ciste, de genévrier, … )