Glucosidase and esterase salivary activities and their involvement in consumer’s wine sensory perception and liking

In contrast to fruit and grape berry ripening, the biological processes causing ripening disorders are often much less understood, although shriveling disorders of fruits are manifold and contribute to yield losses and reduced fruit quality worldwide. Shrinking berries are a common feature for all shriveling disorders in grapevine although their timing of appearance during the berry ripening process and their underlying induction processes distinct them from each other. The sugar accumulation disorder Berry Shrivel (BS) is characterized by a suppression of sugar accumulation short after veraison resulting in berries low in sugar content and anthocyanins in berry skins, while the organic acid content is similar. Recent studies analyzed the biochemical, morphological and molecular processes affected in BS berries and linked early changes to the period of ripening onset [1,2].

The global warming phenomenon involves the frequency of extreme meteorological events accompanied by a change in rainfall distribution. Irrigation frequency (IF) affects the spatial and temporal soil water distribution but its effects on the phenolic composition of the grape have been scarcely studied. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of four deficit irrigation frequencies of 30 % ETo: one irrigation per day (T01), two irrigations per week (T03), one irrigation per week (T07) and one irrigation every two weeks (T15) on berry phenolic composition at harvest.

Climate change is resulting in more dry and hot summers, accelerating grape ripening and increasing berry sugars concentration. This results in wines with a higher alcohol content, which has a negative impact on wine quality, as well as, on consumer health. Agronomic practices that minimize these effects on berry composition and, consequently, on wine quality must be defined. In this work, different management practices have been assessed on rainfed ‘Monastrell’ grapevines in Jumilla (Murcia, Spain) from 2021 to 2023 vintages. Mulching, shading, application of kaolin and different types of pruning were evaluated, among others field adaptation practices.

The appearance of the Phylloxera pest in the 19th century in Europe caused dramatical damages in grapevine diversity. To mitigate these losses, grapevine growers resorted to using crosses of different Vitis species, such as 110 Richter (110R) (V. berlandieri x V. rupestris), which has been invaluable for studying adaptations to stress responses in vineyards. Recently, a high quality chromosome scale assembly of 110R was released, but the available gene models were predicted without using as evidence transcriptional sequences obtained from roots, that are crucial organs in rootstock, and they may express certain genes exclusively. Therefore, we employed RNA sequencing reads of 110R roots under different stress conditions to predict new gene models in each haplotype of 110R under different stresses.

Based on historical vine cultivation, the recent development of wine production in Drama wine region (Greece) has led to vine cultivation expansion of white and red varieties. The current cultivation of 500 ha of vineyards is expected to increase in the coming years. Natural terroir units (NTU) have been designed recently to support the production of high quality wines in the region [1]. The aim of this work is to evaluate the relevancy of the proposed NTUs regarding their suitability to produce wines of specific sensorial identity, and to provide guidelines for correct site selection for the expanding wine industry of the region.