The Bergerac guaranteed vintage area « terroirs »

“The vine and the wine are great mysteries. Only the vine makes us intelligible what is the true flavor of the earth”. Colette. The notion of terroir has always been the basis of the notion of AOC from which it is inseparable. It is moreover the definition of the production zone which was at the start of the attempts to set up the designation of origin, at the beginning of the century, after the phylloxera crisis.

The present work contributes by developing a rapid sensory-directed methodology for the screening and selection of high quality wines with different sensory profiles Therefore, Verdejo and Tempranillo musts were fermented with 50 different yeasts each under controlled laboratory conditions. Resulting samples were firstly categorized according to five levels of quality by a panel of wine professionals (Sáenz-Navajas, Ballester et al. 2013). Higher quality samples were described by flash profiling by a semi-trained panel
(Valentin, Chollet et al. 2012) and most distinctive samples were screened by gas chromatography-olfactometry (GC-O) (López, Aznar et al. 2002).

Grapes (Vitis sp.) are considered a major source of phenolic compounds such as flavonols, anthocyanins and stilbenes. Studies related to the beneficial effects of these compounds on health have encouraged research aimed at increasing their concentration in fruits. On this behalf, several plant growth regulators such as jasmonic acid and its volatile ester, methyl-jasmonate (MeJa), have demonstrated promising results in many fruits. However, Brazilian subtropical climate might interfere on treatment response. The present study aims to evaluate the application of MeJa in the pre-harvest period in Concord and Isabel Precoce grapes (Vitis labrusca L.).

Disease resistant hybrid grape cultivars are now allowed in a number of EU wine PDOs, and are also accepted in a number of countries outside the EU. There is increasing interest in diseases resistant hybrid grape cultivars (RHGCs) because they allow for the production of healthy, high quality grapes with limited use of pesticides and the associated environmental and public health

The sustainability of vineyards is a major issue. The choices proposed to date have major flaws such as the lack of scientific bases or the use of dangerous products such as copper. GiESCO has published a charter of best practices for the environment and for people adapted to various environments. The use of sustainably resistant grape varieties that produce quality wines plays a central role here. Often innovative cultivation systems associated with new technologies and based on scientific bases, guarantee respect for people and the environment. These proposals are brought together in a charter which is part of a meta-ethical approach to seeking consensual measures to ensure the sustainability of vineyards.