Glutathione (GSH), a strong antioxidant naturally present in grape berries and produced by yeasts during fermentation, can be added by winemakers to control oxidative deterioration of wine. A promising approach is the inoculation of starter or co‐starter yeasts that are strong producers of GSH in situ. Since little is known about this activity in non‐Saccharomyces yeasts, the aim of this research was

Quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR) has the advantages of sensitivity, specificity and repeatability, and is commonly used to investigate the expression levels of genes. The selection of appropriate endogenous reference genes is the pre‐condition for acquiring the desired results of qRT‐PCR. This study aimed to identify and screen the most suitable reference genes for grapevines

The major phenological events, such as harvest, are critical periods in the wine business calendar requiring much planning and organisation of resources, yet anticipation of the timing of these events is still imprecise. The aims of this study were to better understand why grape maturity (defined here as the day of the year the grapes reached 11.5 Bé) is advancing, and how different cultivars and regions

This review focuses on the considerable amount of research directed at defining microbial diversity in the vineyard and the subsequent contribution to uninoculated fermentations, with an emphasis on the effect of fungicide applications. From this research it is clear that there are many factors affecting diversity in the vineyard including: sprays, climate, location and grape‐derived parameters. With

There is evidence that some species can withstand a stress event better when experienced previously. This capacity could help to increase stress tolerance and resilience under recurrent stresses. To test the effect of a previous season drought imprint on the tolerance to a subsequent drought event, we compared the growth and physiological performance of young cv. Cabernet Sauvignon grapevines growing

X‐ray micro computed tomography (micro‐CT) is a non‐destructive 3D imaging technique that has been applied to plant morphology and anatomical studies to gain a better understanding of physiological phenomena in vivo. It is particularly useful for imaging voids in undisturbed fragile tissues and therefore may be applied to the delicate flowers and soft berries of Vitis vinifera. The characterisation

Wine encapsulates the expression of multiple inputs – from the vineyard location and environment to viticultural and winemaking practices – collectively known as terroir. Each of these inputs influence a wine's chemical composition and sensory traits, which vary depending on cultivar as well as provenance. These aspects underpin the overall concept of wine typicity, an important notion that enables

Viticulture is facing emerging challenges not only because of the effect of climate change on yield and composition of grapes, but also of a social demand for environmental‐friendly agricultural management. Adaptation to these challenges is essential to guarantee the sustainability of viticulture. The aim of this review is to present adaptation possibilities from the soil‐hidden, and often disregarded

Viticultural practices are needed to counteract widespread, deleterious effects of warming on fruit and wine attributes. Late pruning is an effective tool to delay fruit ripening and improve berry and wine attributes, but the interaction between late pruning and elevated ambient temperature on wine chemical and sensory properties is unknown. We thus investigated the effect of delayed pruning, warming

Some studies bring different visions of innovation among the stakeholders of the wine sector; however, there is a gap in our understanding of the characteristics of and the relationship between the ecosystem and the stakeholders. This study aims to identify and measure critical success factors (CSFs) of the wine innovation ecosystem.

This study compared changes in the concentration of ρ‐coumaric acid in wine because of enzymatic hydrolysis of ρ‐coutaric acid by Oenocococcus oeni with that of chemical hydrolysis during ageing.

The trunk disease Eutypa dieback causes financial losses in grapegrowing. The influence of two pruning methods, namely cane and spur pruning, on the incidence and severity of Eutypa dieback in Shiraz grapevines was investigated as pruning wounds are a major point of entry for the causal agent Eutypa lata.

Climate change is advancing grapevine phenology, decoupling berry technological and phenolic maturity. The aim of this study was to assess the usefulness of late winter pruning for delaying grape ripening.

The flavonoid composition of grapes and wine was determined in transgenic grapevines with altered expression of the tannin synthesis genes anthocyanidin reductase (ANR) and leucoanthocyanidin reductase (LAR).

The aim of this work was to study the effect of two Patagonian malolactic starters, Oenococcus oeni UNQOe 73.2 and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum UNQLp 11, on the wine composition and sensory perception after MLF of Pinot Noir wine.

In recent years, alternative fining practices have increasingly been adopted by the wine industry. The use of plant proteins, as alternatives to traditional fining agents of animal origin for clarification, meets the expectations of a safe product. The effect of alternative fining practices was studied in Sangiovese wine.

Precipitation of unstable proteins present in white wine after bottling can cause cloudiness, which is generally considered commercially unacceptable. Winemakers therefore use bentonite to remove protein prior to bottling, however, this can result in losses of wine volume and/or sensory quality. As such, there is interest in alternate strategies for protein stabilisation. This study evaluated the potential

The wine industry widely acknowledges that grape heterogeneity exists throughout any given vineyard at the time of harvest. There is a lack of understanding, however, of the effects that heterogeneity has on wine composition and sensory qualities. This study compared the chemical composition and sensory attributes of wines produced using parcels of grapes with known heterogeneity.

The grape ripening disorder called berry shrivel is characterised by cessation of sugar accumulation, low pH, impaired anthocyanin biosynthesis in dark‐skinned cultivars and water loss. We tested whether damage to the bunch peduncle vasculature can induce berry shrivel and whether cell death in the rachis precedes cell death in the berries.

Abundant wild grape resources are distributed in China and are rich in anthocyanins, but the systematic analysis and evaluation of the anthocyanin composition in different species of Chinese wild grapes have been little studied. We investigated the interspecific polymorphism of anthocyanins in Chinese wild grapes.

Winemakers utilise various remediation strategies for decreasing ‘reductive’ characters in wine. Remediation strategies, such as the addition of diammonium phosphate (DAP) during fermentation, copper fining, the addition of fresh lees or lees products to wine, and aeration of the must during and after fermentation, are commonly employed in an effort to prevent the formation or to remove undesirable

Biogenic amines are compounds produced mainly by microorganisms from the decarboxylation of some amino acids which may cause several health issues in susceptible people. In the winemaking process, one of the factors with the greatest impact on the final concentration of biogenic amines in wine is the malolactic fermentation, which mainly involves the action of lactic acid bacteria. This article gathers

A region's suitability for viticulture is commonly categorised by thermal‐based bioclimatic indices during the growing season, of which the growing season temperature (GST) is the most widely used. Growing season temperature thresholds, however, were developed for a specific region and therefore may not translate to other established wine regions, including Australia. This paper aims to investigate

The Chardonnay clone Gingin was imported into Western Australia in 1957 and has become one of Australia's oldest recognised Chardonnay clones. While its phenotypic similarity to other Chardonnay clones has been noted, its origins and relatedness to these clones remains a mystery. This study builds on previous Chardonnay clonal marker research to uncover the origins of Gingin.

The effect of global warming on grape ripening has led to the development of strategies for delaying sugar accumulation. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the application of the film‐forming anti‐transpirant di‐1‐p‐menthene on the berry ripening of Sangiovese grapevines with different crop loads.

Wines that exhibit regional characters are often the most sought after and the highest valued wines available in the marketplace. This study evaluated the sensory properties that were regionally distinctive for Australian Shiraz wines.

The concentration of free trans‐resveratrol in wine is expected to increase with storage because of hydrolysis of piceid (a bound form of resveratrol). This study measured resveratrol concentration in 16 Australasian red wines ranging from 1 to 6 years old, both initially and after a storage period of 16 months under ambient conditions.

Ozonated water has been used in vineyards to reduce the use of pesticides because of its presumed efficacy in the control of fungal diseases and the absence of residues. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of ozonated water treatments on the composition of grapes.

Simple methods for determining Cu forms in wine do not currently exist. This study demonstrates the relevance of measuring a specific fraction of Cu in wine, and introduces simplified methods for its measurement utilising either colorimetry, or filtration in combination with routine measures of total Cu in wine.

Optimising the treatment and reuse of winery wastewater (WWW) can have positive environmental significance. Estimating the concentration of various organic compounds, nutrients, and metals via correlations with easily determined parameters could provide a rapid and cost‐effective method of characterising WWW and allow real‐time process adjustments to optimise the process performance.

The importance of indoor environmental conditions in a cellar is well known and continuously investigated. The process of wine ageing consists of several steps, during which temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) play a fundamental role as the quality of the final product is strongly related to stable and suitable environmental conditions. Critical factors, such as mould growth or wine evaporation

Red tablegrapes may fail to develop adequate berry colour. To correct this, abscisic acid and ethephon are applied; however, little is known about the possibility of brassinosteroids (BRs) to improve berry colour. Thus, a commercial BR formulation was tested in two commercial vineyards of Redglobe and Crimson Seedless in order to evaluate its effectiveness for improving berry colour.

The authors would like to draw the reader's attention to an error in the following article: Xin, B., Liu, S. and Whitty, M. (2020) Three‐dimensional reconstruction of Vitis vinifera (L.) cvs Pinot Noir and Merlot grape bunch frameworks using a restricted reconstruction grammar based on the stochastic L‐system. Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research 26(3), 207–219. https://doi:10.1111/ajgw.12444

An understanding of the dynamics of the components of evapotranspiration and irrigation requirements in response to climate variation and change is essential to manage vineyards sustainably.

Declining autumn and winter rainfall increasingly limits soil moisture availability at the onset of the growing season in southern Australia. We studied the consequences of reduced rainfall during dormancy on vine growth, and explored irrigation strategies to maintain yield following dry winters.

Phenotypic traits of grape bunches are known to be related with grapevine yield, wine flavour and sensitivity to disease. Aiming to solve a phenotypic bottleneck in current breeding studies as well as to improve the performance of phenotypic tools, we put forward a combination of grammar‐based reconstruction and vision‐based reconstruction, and propose an empirical reconstruction grammar restricted

Recently, early defoliation (ED) has been used widely to regulate yield and reduce bunch compactness to improve tolerance to bunch rot. The aim of this study was to test ED, as an alternative to the conventional crop thinning (CT), to regulate yield and improve tolerance to bunch rot of the Vitis vinifera L. cv. Aragonez.

Vitis vinifera seeds from one Medieval and two Roman‐era archaeological sites in Galicia (north‐western Spain) were morphologically compared to seeds of different cultivated varieties (V. vinifera subsp. sativa) in the same areas and with those of wild grapevines (V. vinifera subsp. sylvestris) from different parts of Spain and the French Basque Country.

During winemaking, alcoholic and malolactic fermentations are usually conducted by strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Oenococcus oeni, respectively. Although most commercial wines are produced via inoculation with both yeast and bacteria, uninoculated fermentations can increase microbial diversity, leading to more complex wines. In this study, Chardonnay must was subjected to a combination of

The effect of the timing of the initiation of irrigation during the growing season on Vitis vinifera L. Cabernet Sauvignon vines was investigated during 5 successive years.

Oenococcus oeni is a lactic acid bacterium highly adapted to the stressful environment of wine, and is widely used as an industrial starter culture to conduct malolactic fermentation (MLF), the conversion of L‐malate to L‐lactate. Some cold‐climate wine regions still produce wines which prove too stressful for the application of a starter culture, resulting in sluggish or stuck MLFs which compromise

Italy is the richest grape‐producing country in terms of cultivars. Our aims were to describe the diversity of astringency of Italian red wines from 11 cultivars, Teroldego, Corvina, Raboso, Nebbiolo, Sangiovese, Sagrantino, Montepulciano, Cannonau, Aglianico, Primitivo and Nerello, and to test correlations between in‐mouth sensory variables and chemical composition.

The development of an efficient clonal selection process requires the study of genotype‐by‐environment (G × E) interaction. This work aims to evaluate the variability of the G × E interaction among genotypes and to identify the less sensitive ones.

‘Terroir’ is a term used to describe how climate, microclimate, geology, soil, topography and vitivinicultural history affect the taste and aroma of a wine produced from a vineyard. This study investigates one aspect of terroir—the topography—for Chablis, a white wine‐producing region of France.

Governo all'uso toscano (GUT) is a traditional winemaking practice where withered grapes are added to a freshly fermented wine. This results in a second alcoholic fermentation and a distinctive wine, in which there is renewed interest. Grape withering is problematic for winemakers, however, both in terms of cost and risks. It is therefore important to determine the minimum amount of withered grapes

The total concentration of copper (Cu) in wine cannot be routinely measured without relatively expensive equipment, reagents and/or without labour‐intensive sample pretreatment. The following research describes an approach for the colorimetric measurement of total Cu in wine utilising a spectrophotometer and relatively cheap reagents.

Global warming can lead to technological ripening occurring in advance of phenolic maturity for red wine cultivars. This study evaluated the effect of post‐budburst winter pruning on the phenology, yield components, berry composition and phenolic maturity in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Merlot.

Regulations in some wine‐producing countries allow water addition to grape must. The research presented compared the impact of water addition to must on wine phenolics and colour relative to that of wines at the same alcohol concentration, prepared from fruit harvested earlier.

Still wine contains a significant but sub‐saturated concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) that remains following alcoholic fermentation. The concentration of CO2 can be adjusted by winemaking practices and may influence wine sensory properties. This study set out to define for the first time the effect of a sub‐saturated level of dissolved carbon dioxide (DCO2) on the taste, overall aroma, flavour

Although most proteins and a significant proportion of phenolic substances are extracted from grape pulp, the extraction of grape skin components may contribute to and modulate the final concentration of these components in juice. This study investigated the influence of skin contact time and various extractants on the extraction of Sauvignon Blanc grape skin components.

Sampling is problematic in perennial tree and vine crops because organ numbers are vast, budgets are low and maturation of fruit is asynchronous within and between individuals. Typically, the precision and the repeatability of sampling are low and methodologies used in the field vary widely within the industry. We define a combined statistical and cost model for fruit maturity sampling that could be

Optical leaf sensing of plant nitrogen (N) status enables fertilisation based on plant demand. The aim of this study was to assess the suitability of leaf reflectance indices and of a handheld device for the estimation of N and chlorophyll (Chl) in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Riesling.

Some grapevine cultivars such as Malbec have unstable yield, due to poor fruitset or fruitlet abscission. The phenomenon is known as ‘shatter’ and this study aims to explore the potential of applying the shoot girdling technique at flowering, to direct the carbohydrate partitioning towards inflorescences and reduce shatter.

The economic value of wine has increased over the years due to the emergence of new producers and new markets. In line with this, the global distribution of research outputs in viticulture and oenology has also shifted since this informs wine production and consumption. This study investigates the trends in wine and grape publications indexed in Web of Science (2002–2017).

The wine sector worldwide consumes a considerable amount of energy, with much of it used for cooling and ventilating cellars (ageing rooms). For this reason, the design of energy efficient cellars is increasingly gaining importance. With the aim of developing cellars that require little or no energy to maintain wine maturation conditions constant, this article presents a synopsis of the principles

The threshold for Botrytis contamination of winegrapes is not fully known. Using a measurement of the fungal sterol, ergosterol, we aimed to understand how much grey mould of grapes can be tolerated before there is a perceivable impact on wine sensory characteristics.

Wines aged in wood barrels are likely to contain Brettanomyces yeasts, which are able to produce off‐flavour compounds such as ethylphenols and vinylphenols. In this work, both off‐flavoured and pleasant phenol compounds were quantified in Portuguese wines with an improved analytical technology.

As grapegrowers move to adapt to climate change, they need more detailed information on what cultivars to plant and where to plant them. The aims of this study were to understand how different cultivars in different regions are responding to changes in climate, in order to inform future cultivar selections.

Generally, grapevine roots have been less studied than the above‐ground parts of the plant. Here we analyse scion–rootstock interactions in mature vines growing in a heavy clay soil in a climate characterised by severe summer drought to investigate the effect of the scion–rootstock interaction in a suboptimal soil.

The growth and development of grapevine is constrained by temperature, affecting the bulk of physiological processes of the plant. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of climate change on thermal resources and limitations in the context of Georgia, one of the oldest viticultural areas in the world.