Impacts of environmental variability and viticultural practices on grapevine behaviour at terroir scales

AIM The main lead exposure route is the intake of contaminated food, water, and alcoholic beverages, in particular wine. At the gastric level, Pb is transformed into a soluble compound which, when conveyed into the bloodstream, is the long-term cause of saturnism, intoxication with neurotoxic, nephrotoxic and hematopoietic effects, and with the neurological developmental delay of children. Pb is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a 2A class, possible carcinogenic to humans. In an opinion on possible health risks, CONTAM considered that cereals, vegetables, drinking water, and wine give a greater contribute to dietary exposure to Pb in Europe. Large quantities of wine, beer, and other alcoholic products drinking can increase daily Pb intake above the maximum permitted levels.

Viticultural potential has a complex conditioning, determined by relief,
soil, climate and lithology. Delineation of viticultural potential from vineyard areas is essential for the purpose to collect the necessary data for viticultural zoning. Using this data, we can achieve greater yield quality, which is the most important criteria in viticulture. The main purpose of this research is
characterizing of viticultural potential and zoning of homogeneous viticultural zones in Goriška Brda region by assessing the suitability of defined ecological factors.

Light is responsible for adverse reactions in wine including the formation of unpleasant flavors, loss of vitamins or photodegradation of anthocyanins. Among them, the riboflavin degradation leads to the formation of undesirable volatile compounds, known as light-struck taste. These photo-chemical reactions could be avoided by simply using opaque packaging. However, most rosé wines are kept in transparent bottles due to different commercial reasons. Some agri-food waste extracts have been studied for their photoprotective action which turn to be highly correlated with phenolic content [1].

Water is one of the most limiting factors for viticulture in Mediterranean regions. Former researches showed that water shortage hampers both vegetative and reproductive developments. INRA is running programs to breed varieties carrying QTL of tolerance to major fungi, i.e. powdery and downy mildews. Some varieties have been already certified or are close to be certified. However, little is known about the response of these varieties to water deficit, which behavior is critical for their development. This study characterized physiological responses of 4 new varieties to water deficit and described relationship between them.

During wine aging, several complex phenomena of gas transfer take place in barrels due to the wine/oak contact. The efficiency of this gas transfer varies according to oak wood’s intrinsic physical properties. This research aims to better understand oxygen transfer phenomena through dry oak staves and especially through stave gaps, in order to reevaluate the importance of barrel-making on a barrel’s supply of oxygen. Experimentation was based on the development of an innovative permeameter of laboratory scale, for which the principal operating conditions concerning applied pressure, the choice of liquid phase/gas phase, and the grain type of oak are taken into account and investigated. With a specially developed tightening system, the existing pressure at stave gaps in a barrel could be reproduced on a laboratory scale in order to estimate its influence on oxygen transfer efficiency.