VITOUR – The European World Heritage Vineyards

Rapid processing of grapes after harvest has always been considered essential for achieving a balanced sensory wine profile.

Dans les Charentes, en réponse à une crise de production du vignoble destiné à la production de Cognac, un plan de diversification viticole pour des vins de pays de qualité est mis en place. Il nécessite une connaissance des sols et de leurs caractéristiques viticoles pour orienter le choix des types de vins et adapter l’itinéraire technique de production.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as the workhorse of alcoholic fermentation, is a major actor of winemaking. In this context, this yeast species uses alcoholic fermentation to convert sugars from the grape must into ethanol and CO2 with an outstanding efficiency: it reaches on average 92% of the maximum theoretical yield of conversion. Moreover, S. cerevisiae is also known for its great genetic diversity and plasticity that is directly related to its living environment, natural or technological and therefore to domestication. This leads to a great phenotypic diversity of metabolites production.

Rachis browning is a common abiotic stress that occurs during postharvest storage, leading to a decrease in commercial value of table grapes and resulting in significant economic losses. Its early detection could enable the implementation of preventive strategies. In this report, we show the feasibility of a non-destructive early detection of browning based on Hyper Spectral Imaging (HSI). Furthermore, rachis samples were subjected to transcriptomic analysis to understand putative pathways causing differences in browning within varieties.

3-Sulfanylhexan-1-ol (3SH) is a key impact odorant of white wines such as Sauvignon Blanc. In particular, the varietal characters of Sauvignon Blanc, especially from Marlborough NZ, are strongly influenced by the concentrations of 3SH