Study of wine-growing land (“terroir”) characteristics in the canton of Vaud (Switzerland): ecophysiological behaviour of the vine (cv. Chasselas)

In this video recording of the IVES science meeting 2024, Mariona H Gil i Cortiella (Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Santiago de Chile, Chile) speaks about Which microorganisms contribute to mousy off-flavour in owines. This presentation is based on articles accessible for free on OENO One and IVES Technical Reviews.

This work began as an intellectual game, in order to discuss the notion of wine quality in terms of terroir and territory spatial structure. Vine and wine quality has long been questioned by scientists. Each discipline approaching it with his own tools.

In the context of climate change and the need to reduce inputs, optimising photosynthesis and grapevine performance requires a better understanding of the interactions between water status, nitrogen availability, and source-sink relationships.

Amarone is an Italian red wine produced in the Valpolicella area, in north-eastern Italy. Due to its elaboration with withered grapes, Amarone is a rather unique example of dry red wine. However, there is very limited data so far concerning the volatile composition of commercial Amarone wines, which also undergo a cask aging of 2-4 years before release. The present work aims at characterizing the aroma composition of Amarone and to elucidate the relationships between chemical composition and sensory characters. The analysis of 17 Amarone commercial wines from the same vintage (2015) was carried out by means of Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and extracted by Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) and Solid Phase Micro Extraction (SPME). In addition, the sampled wines were subjected to a sensory evaluation in the form of sorting task.RESULTS: 70 volatile compounds were successfully identified and quantified, 30 of which were present in concentrations above their odor thresholds in all the samples. Using the odor activity value (OAV), the compounds that potentially contribute to Amarone perceived aroma are b-damascenone, ethyl and isoamyl acetate, ethyl esters (hexanoate, octanoate, butanoate, 3-methybutanoate), 4-ethyl guaiacol, 3-methylbutanoic acid, dimethyl sulfide (DMS), eugenol, massoia lactone, 1,4-cineol, TDN, cis/trans-whisky lactone. In certain samples, high OAVs were also observed for 4-ethyl phenol and 1,8-cineole.Results from the sorting task sensory analysis showed three clusters formed.

Climate change, driven by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, is one of humanity’s most significant environmental challenges.