The Enoforum is organized by VINIDEA and is the largest technical-scientific annual congress in Europe for the wine sector. In February 2021, the selected works covered a wide range of innovative topics for the wine industry, such as using of artificial intelligence and precision approach for vineyard management, copper reduction strategies, new varieties dealing with the adversity of climate changes, use of ultrasounds in winemaking, new methods for tannin estimation and quantification of phenol content, different tools for wine authenticity.
Chitosan is gaining interest in red winemaking thanks to its ability to inhibit the development of Brettanomyces spp. yeast, or other undesired wine microbial threats. However, little is known about potential side-effects of its addition on the physico-chemical parameters of red wines.
Candida zemplinina (synonym Starmerella bacillaris) is frequently isolated in grape must in different vitivinicultural areas. The enological significance of C. zemplinina strains used in combination with S. cerevisiae has been demonstrated, being wines produced by the above-mixed starter, characterized by higher amounts of glycerol and esters.
Commercial red wines use the malolactic fermentation process to ensure stability from a microbiological point of view. In this second fermentation, malic acid is converted into L-lactic acid under controlled steps.
In some white wines, malolactic fermentation (MLF) is very interesting, and for low pH wines this process is particularly difficult. Although MLF is generally not recommended for sparkling white wine, some winemakers prefer to promote MLF to contribute to organoleptic complexity. Oenococcus oeni is generally the bacterium of choice for MLF.