Vintage influence on Grenache N, Syrah N and Mourvedre N in Côtes du Rhône (France)

Unlike most of other foods, wine sensory quality is thought to reach a peak after an aging period. In the case of the Valpolicella red wines

Studying wine metabolome through multiple targeted methods is complicated and limitative; since grapes, yeasts, bacteria, oxygen, enological techniques and wine aging collaborate to deliver one of the richest metabolomic fingerprint.

The species and origin used for red wine oak aging determines the physiological composition of the wood and thus the finished wines. In America, oak is grown primarily

L’observation est effectuée entre 1996 et 1998. L’expérience a commencé avec des clones numérotés: 75, 95, 96 et 227 de la variété Chardonnay. Le porte greffe est le Kober 5 BB. La forme de conduite est le cordon. La taille est longue. La densité de plantation est 3,5 x 1 mètre (2857 ceps par 1/ha).

Polysaccharides and more specifically pectins, make up a significant portion of the cell wall material of the plant cells including the grapes. During the fruit ripening the associated softening is related to the breakdown of the cell wall polysaccharides. During this process, it is expected that polysaccharides that are soluble in red wine will be formed influencing its texture. Anthocyanins are responsible for the wine color and tannins for the astringency, body and bitterness of the wine. In the skins, these compounds are located in the cell vacuoles and the barrier that conditions their extractability is the skin cell wall that may determine the mechanical resistance, the texture and the ease of processing berries. The aim of this work was study the evolution of the polysaccharides and the anthocyanin and tannin extractability during the ripening period in Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, trying to correlate these variables.