An evaluation of the physiological responses of young grapevines planted and maintained under water constraint 

Grape pomace (GP) is a winemaking by-product particularly rich in (poly)phenols and dietary fiber, which are the main active compounds responsible for its health-promoting effects. GP-derived products have been proposed to manage cardiovascular risk factors, including endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and obesity. Studies on the potential impact of GP on gut health are much more recent. However, it is suggested that, to some extent, this activity of GP as a cardiometabolic health-promoting ingredient would begin in the gastrointestinal tract as GP components (i.e., (poly)phenols and fiber) undergo extensive catabolism, mainly by the action of the intestinal microbiota, that gives rise to low-molecular-weight bioactive compounds that can be absorbed and utilized by the body.

The maintenance and valorization of genetic diversity is an undoubtable resource for the viticulture of the future, since the climate crisis is forcing us to think of new, more resilient varieties. For this reason, the grapevine germplasm of the Fondazione Edmund Mach has been continuously expanded in the last decade to a total of 3,120 accessions, whose trueness-to-type has been verified by means of the universal set of nine microsatellites. About two thirds are V. vinifera subsp. vinifera accessions, while the rest consists of naturalized and selected hybrids, V. vinifera subsp. sylvestris, and pure species. The genetic material has also been characterized over three consecutive years for ampelographic, vine development, and biotic stress response traits to be exploited for experimental purposes.

Aim: To investigate the impact of Geographical Indications (GI) of South Australia on the rootstock/scion-mediated methoxypyrazine accumulation within the rachis of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. 

The last step in winemaking is packaging the wines for market placement, while preserving the quality attained during vinification. Since the 1980s, 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) has been recognised as an incidental and random contaminant of cork, with its migration into wine thought to contribute to ‘cork taint’. This molecule is not a cork component and little is known about how it is formed on trees. Its formation from the chlorine used to wash the cork stoppers, long suspected, has been excluded by the abandonment of chlorine washing.

The introduction into the Italian wine supply chain of the latest generation of fungi-resistant grapevine varieties, endowed with a greater or lesser strong resistance to downy and powdery mildews, represents a valid tool of making viticulture more sustainable, particularly in northern regions of the peninsula, where climatic conditions accentuate the pressure of fungal diseases. However, the affirmation of resistant varieties is a function of their agronomic value, as well as of their oenological and sensorial value. The purpose of this study was to evaluate in detail the sensory potential of the new resistant varieties, in order to understand their real possibility of inclusion in the modern global enological context.