Characteristics of some Montefalco Sagrantino vineyards through polyphenolic components

– Several practices can be applied to vineyards in order to ensure good healthy for grapevines, adequate yield and fruit quality. Among them, the use of cover crops is a relevant option for soil management. It increases the organic matter, improves water infiltration, reduces risks of soil erosion and greenhouse gas emissions, in addition improving biodiversity in the vineyard.

Pinking of white wine is an undesired change potentially occurring over storage, leading to the turning of color from yellow into salmon-red hue.

The wide diffusion of organic cultivation of vineyards and the need to reduce the use of pesticides highlights the urgent need for alternative and sustainable methods of vine protection by pathogen molds.

Phenolic compounds are responsible for the most important red wine quality attributes. Anthocyanins and tannins play crucial roles in color and mouthfeel properties of red wines. Phenolic analysis in the winery is hindered by analytical constrains.

The studies developed by INRA and UV, in Angers, concern wine-growing areas and their optimized management, both from an agro-viticultural and oenological point of view. Previous work (Morlat, 1989) made it possible to give a scientific dimension to the concept of viticultural terroir and demonstrated the considerable influence of this production factor on the quality and typicity of wines (Asselin et al, 1992 ) . A methodology for the integrated characterization of terroirs, based on the “Basic Terroir Natural Unit” (considered as the smallest spatial unit of territory usable in practice, and in which the response of the vine is homogeneous), has been development (Riou et al , 1995).