Effect of “Terroir” on quanti-qualitative paramethers of “vino nobile di Montepulciano”

Wine quality depends largely on berry ripening conditions in relation to soil and climat. The influence of the soil has been studied in Bordeaux since the early Seventies (SEGUIN, 1970; DUTEAU et al., 1981; VAN LEEUWEN, 1991; VAN LEEUWEN et SEGUIN, 1994) and, more recently, in the Val de Loire (MORLAT, 1989), the Alsace (LEBON, 1993) and the Costières de Nîmes regions (MARTIN, 1995).

This study was performed on Chasselas wine to assess the impact of exposure to wine light according to several glass color of bottles. The aim was to highlight any differences whether from an organoleptic or analytical point of view depending on the color. For this, four different shades were compared, dead leaf, green, cinnamon and transparent. A control, not treated with light, was also included in the study. Several tests were carried out with different exposure times in boxes as well as in stores. The bottles were exposed 7 days, 4 days as well as 2 days in box but also 7 days in store. At the end of each test the different modalities were tasted by an expert panel in order to observe any differences between the tint modalities. As a result of these experiments, it was observed that organoleptic differences significant appeared after 2 days of exposure, in particular on the olfactory notes of the reduction. The transparent modality was seen to be significantly more intense on reduction scores compared to other modalities, including the witness in particular. These differences were also observed during all the tests even that of 7 days of exposure in store where we would have thought that there would be no difference. Overall, the control and cinnamon modalities are generally perceived to have more intense notes on the fruity, floral descriptors but less intense for reduction than the transparent shade. For the dead leaf and green modalities, the results are more contrasted and sometimes approach those of the control and other times closer to the transparent modality. Regarding the analytical results, similar conclusions could be drawn with respect to the sensory tests. In fact, the transparent modality is the variant which has an absorbance of the UV-C solution that is twice as high as the other modalities after the 7-day treatment in the chamber. In view of the sensory and analytical results obtained in this study, the choice of the color of the bottles turns out to be an essential element in influencing the intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics of a wine. In order to preserve the qualities of the wine over the medium and long term, dark and opaque tints should be favored. Conversely, a transparent glass could be recommended in the case of rapid consumption of the wine after bottling.

The variety Aragonez (sin. Tempranillo), recently introduced in the San Francisco Valley (9º02′ S; 40º11′ W) has revealed an excellent adaptation, with high potential of quality and yield, even without clonal material.

Grapevines are continually wounded throughout their cultivation especially during winter pruning. Grapevines respond to wounding by occluding xylem vessels with gels or tyloses to limit pathogen attack and dehydration of the tissues. Although the production of xylem vessel occlusions has been studied in grapevine, to date we have no knowledge of whether different genotypes respond differently. The objective of this study was to characterize the genetic variation in xylem vessel occulsions in five different scion genotypes pruned at different dates.

Mendoza is one of Argentina’s most important and outstanding wine regions producing the renowned Malbec wines due to its optimal soil and weather conditions. However, the effects of 21st-century climate change would negatively impact Malbec wines quality. This study investigated the effect of temperature increase and the impact of plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) used to mitigate the negative effect of temperature increase on Malbec wines aromatic composition through GC-MS. Four treatments were applied on vines at field condition: Control, Control + 3 ºC, ABA and ABA + 3 ºC.