Climate influence on the grapevine phenology and anthocyanins content in wines from the Skopje vineyard area, Republic of Macedonia

Making high quality but affordable Pinot noir (PN) wine is challenging in most terroirs and New Zealand’s (NZ) situation is no exception. To increase the probability of making highly typical PN wines producers choose to grow grapes in cool climates on lower fertility soils while adopting labour intensive practices. Stringent yield targets and higher input costs necessarily mean that PN wine cost is high, and profitability lower, in line-priced varietal wine ranges. To understand the reasons why higher yielding vines are perceived to produce wines of lower quality we have undertaken an extensive study of PN in NZ. Since 2018, we established a network of twelve trial sites in three NZ regions to find individual vines that produced acceptable commercial yields (above 2.5kg per vine) and wines of composition comparable to “Icon” labels. Approximately 20% of 660 grape lots (N = 135) were selected from within a narrow juice Total Soluble Solids (TSS) range and made into single vine wines under controlled conditions. Principal Component Analysis of the vine, berry, juice and wine parameters from three vintages found grape berry mass to be most effective clustering variable. As berry mass category decreased there was a systematic increase in the probability of higher berry red colour and total phenolics with a parallel increase in wine phenolics, changed aroma fraction and decreased juice amino acids. The influence of berry size on wine composition would appear stronger than the individual effects of vintage, region, vineyard or vine yield. Our observations support the hypothesis that it is possible to produce PN wines that fall within an “Icon” benchmark composition range at yields above 2.5kg per vine provided that the Leaf Area:Fruit Weight ratio is above 12cm2 per g, mean berry mass is below 1.2g and juice TSS is above 22°Brix.

Wine tasting has been shown to provide emotions to tasters (Coste et al. 2018). How will expertise impact this emotional response? Burnham and Skilleås (2012) reported that the cultural, experiential, and aesthetic competencies characterize an expert in wine compared to a novice. Although there is no consensual definition of an aesthetic experience, Burnham and Skilleås (2012) reported that aesthetic appreciation is “disinterested, normative for others and communicable” in comparison to sensory pleasure.

A new immunoassay kit, called Botrytis Lateral Flow Device has been tested to detect Botrytis cinerea on musts and wines. The comparison of the immunoassay result with the quantitative analysis of usual markers (gluconic acid, sugars and polyols) showed the relevance of this innovative tool.

AIM Astringency is described as a ‘dry puckering‐like sensation’ following consumption of tannins1 that affect consumer preference of foods and beverages, including red wine2. To improve the understanding of astringency, which is a complex interaction due to multiple mechanisms occurring simultaneously, further studies are needed. In this view, oral tribology is considered a useful technique for beverage study to evaluate the thin-film lubrication properties of saliva resulting in oral friction‐related sensations3. The aim of this study was to examine the film behavior of selected protein-based fluids under controlled friction conditions, to understand polyphenol-protein interactions involved in the sensation of astringency.

The intricate relationship between the necrotrophic pathogen Botrytis cinerea and grape berries (Vitis vinifera spp.) can lead to the development of either the desirable noble rot (NR) or the unfavourable grey rot (GR), depending on the prevailing weather conditions.