Monitoring water deficit in vineyards by means of Red and Infrared measurements

In the Northeast of Brazil, vines can produce twice a year, because annual average temperature is 26ºC, with high solar radiation and water availability for irrigation.

Blending wines from different grape varieties is often used in order to increase wine complexity and balance. Due to their popularity, several types of blends such as the Bordeaux blend, are protected by PDO legislation.

Climate change impacts crop plants, plant pathogens, and their insect vectors and hence adds abiotic stress to the triangle of plant-virus-vector interactions.

This work gives a summary of the most important programmes about viticultural « terroirs », developed on the « Côtes du Rhône » controlled appellation area for about twenty years.

Malolactic fermentation (MLF) is a secondary step in the vinification process and it follows alcoholic fermentation (AF) which is predominantly carried out by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. These two processes result in the degradation of metabolites to produce secondary metabolites which also contribute to the final wine flavour and quality. AF results in the production of ethanol and carbon dioxide from sugars and MLF stems from the degradation of L-malic acid (a dicarboxylic acid) to L-lactic acid (a monocarboxylic acid). The latter process results in a smoother texture as the acidity of the wine is reduced by the process, it also adds to the flavour complexity of the wine.