Effect of soil texture on early bud burst

Acidity of grape berries is lowered due to climate changes (1), resulting in musts and wines with higher pHs. These higher pHs induce microbiological instability

Wine consumers generally demand wines having a perception of softer tannins and less ripe, having a heaviness and richness on palate (full-body wine) with a limpid and stable color. However, polyphenol
(tannins)-rich wines have been also correlated with unpleasant taste properties such as astringency and
bitterness when perceived at high intensities. Modulating these unpleasant properties could be important for consumer’s approval of wines.

The last step in winemaking is packaging the wines for market placement, while preserving the quality attained during vinification. Since the 1980s, 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) has been recognised as an incidental and random contaminant of cork, with its migration into wine thought to contribute to ‘cork taint’. This molecule is not a cork component and little is known about how it is formed on trees. Its formation from the chlorine used to wash the cork stoppers, long suspected, has been excluded by the abandonment of chlorine washing.

Among the many compounds in wine, condensed tannins play an important role in the organoleptic properties of the products; they are partly responsible for astringency, bitterness and also contribute to the color. This research work aims to study the oxidation state of these bio-heteropolymers which is an important lock in the analysis of processed products in order to better control their quality. Indeed, their identification remains at present a challenge because of the large heterogeneity of their degrees of polymerization (DP) based on 4 monomers (epicatechin, catechin, epigallocatechin, epicatechin-3-O-gallate) thus multiplying the number of oxidation products.

The region of viticultural production near Pinto Bandeira, Brazil, is being studied to define typical characteristics of wines locally produced.