Effect of row direction in the upper part of the hillside vineyard of Somló, Hungary

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.

Recurring heat and drought episodes during the growing season can produce adverse impacts on grape production in many wine regions around the world.

A multi-element pedo-geochemical survey was carried out in Vrbničko polje vineyards on the Krk Island, Croatia. This Mediterranean winegrowing site is famous by Žlahtina wine production.

Water use efficiency is one of the most valued objectives in vine growing in mediterranean climates (de la fuente et al., 2015). Due to this, the grape growers provide different adaptation strategies according to their efficient consumption against the presumable water deficit generated under these environmental conditions. The use of non-positioned shoot systems (like sprawl, bush, etc.) Can help to achieve this objective.

Wine lees are the second most important wine by-product in terms of quantity after grape stalk and marc. During aging on lees, it is well known that wine lees yield compounds that act as antioxydant. However the chemical nature of the compounds involved in this behavior (except polyphenols and glutathione) has not yet been totally elucidated. The scarce knowledge of wine lees composition and their potential exploitation make them a promising candidate to obtain new antioxidant products to be used in winemaking. In this study, an eco-sustainable approach to obtain lees extracts exhibiting antioxidant capacity is proposed. Such extracts could be used in a global enological strategy of sulfites level reduction.