Volatile compounds production during ripening of cv. “Sangiovese” grapes from different terroir

Valpolicella is a famous wine producing region in the province of Verona owing its fame above all to the production of two Protected Designation of Origins (PDOs) withered wines: Amarone and Recioto. In recent years, however, the wineries have been interested in the enhancement and qualitative increase of another PDO, Valpolicella Superiore. All the Valpolicella PDOs wines are produced with a unique grape blend, mainly Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and a range of other minor varieties.

The recent expansion of arid areas due to climate change is putting grapevine and the other traditional productions at risk in all Mediterranean countries with a limited availability of fundamental resources such as water. It is possible to improve the resilience of vineyards by developing sustainable agricultural practices based on biological and natural resources such as endophytic microorganisms that colonize inner plant tissues, and which can potentially increase the tolerance to abiotic stresses. A selection of grapevine endophytes was conducted from 2021 to 2023 as part of the PRIMA project PROSIT.

The recovery of ancestral or minority vine varieties has been gaining great interest in recent years, among other reasons because it is likely that some of these varieties, due to the fact that they are found in relict areas, have a greater potential for adaptation to external factors (biotic or abiotic) and can minimize the effects that climate change is causing in viticulture. Varieties that can be grown at altitude are currently being sought to combat rising temperatures and prolonged extreme drought conditions. In Catalonia, the Pyrenean expansion of vineyard cultivation is documented from the 10th century and has been related to the “small climatic optimum” (9th-12th centuries) and also to seigniorial power.[1] But different adverse climatic periods and the arrival of Phylloxera by the late 19th century made many of these crops disappear.[2]

The global wine production is continuously evolving to meet the new demands and preferences of consumers. in this evolving scenario, it’s important to determine which trends will be short-lived and which will remain over time. The promotion of healthier habits has encouraged consumers to try to find alternatives with low or no alcohol content. The challenge for the industry is to produce an alcohol-free wine that retains the familiar aromas and mouthfeel of traditional wine but without alcohol. Ethanol is the most abundant compound in wine, excluding water.

La maîtrise de la typicité du vin s’élabore au niveau local ou communal d’une exploitation viticole et/ou d’une cave, unité de vinification. La cave coopérative de Saint-Hilaire­-d’Ozilhan (AOC Côtes-du-Rhône), dont le territoire communal s’étend sur une superficie de 1 670 ha, couvre près de 310 ha cultivés en vigne. Elle réalise des vinifications «au terroir», en utilisant des regroupements d’unités de sol en 9 unités de terroir potentiellement viticoles, définies en s’appuyant sur la parenté des substrats. Diverses sélections d’une même unité peuvent aboutir aussi à des vins différents, ce qui suggère une hétérogénéité spatiale de certaines unités définies.