The Bergerac guaranteed vintage area « terroirs »

To characterize a wine, the most frequently used criteria describe its color, its origin, the grape varieties from which they come, or even for white wines its residual sugar content (dry, semi-dry, sweet). In france, the system of appellations of origin set up in 1919 was initially based solely on the notoriety and origin of the wines. But given the unfavorable consequences that this lack of details generated, the public authorities quickly integrated in 1927 into the “capus” law criteria for access to designations of origin, relating to the specific characteristics of the soils of the vineyards and the grape varieties used, in particular exclusion of interspecific hybrid varieties. In 1935 the creation of the aoc system confirmed the interest in precisely defining all the production conditions that must be implemented to be able to claim the benefit of an aoc, and grape varieties were an essential condition for acquisition.

In the current climatic context, with milder winters leading to earlier budburst in most wine regions, vines are exposed to the risk of spring frosts for a longer period. Depending on the year, frost can lead to yield losses of between 20 and 100 %, jeopardizing the economic survival of wine estates. In addition, by destroying young shoots, spring frosts can impact the following season’s production, by reducing the number of canes available for pruning, for example. Late pruning is one method to combat spring frosts.

The structural diversity is one of the most remarkable characteristics of proanthocyanidins (PA). Indeed, PA in wines may vary in the B-ring and C-ring substitutes, the C-ring stereochemistry, the degree of polymerization (DP) and the linkage between the monomers. Knowing in detail the structural characteristics of the PA of a wine can help us to understand and modulate several sensorial characteristics of the wine, such as color, antioxidant properties, flavor, and mouthfeel properties. In the last years was discovered and confirmed the presence of sulfonated monomeric and oligomeric flavan-3-ols in wine [1], as well as was pointed out their importance in wine quality [1,2].

Prospective studies raise a real intellectual interest for those who contribute to them or take cognizance of it. But they are often considered too difficult to operationalize

Efforts to improve the New Zealand wine industry’s climate resilience and sustainability through grapevine improvement are limited by germplasm availability and a reliance on Sauvignon Blanc exports. To address this, we are working to generate a population of 12,000 individuals with unique genetic traits, from which to select future clones for major export varieties.

Sauvignon Blanc plantlets are being regenerated from embryogenic callus, using an approach designed to mobilise endogenous transposable elements as mutagens.