Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the role played by climatic conditions during grape ripening in the protein instability of white wines produced in the French southwest region. For this purpose, basic wine analyses were carried out on 268 musts and the corresponding wines, all produced during the 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 vintages, with distinctive climatic conditions. Qualitative and quantitative variables were correlated with levels of protein haze determined by heat test (80 °C/2 h) in the wines using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), principal component analysis (PCA), and classification and regression trees (CART). Our results show that the climatic change, with the increase in temperatures, and the decrease in precipitation during the grape ripening phase, tends to enhance the risk of protein instability in wines. Indeed, the values of pH, titratable acidity, and malic acid concentrations of the musts, which are good indicators of the conditions in which the grapes ripened and of the level of ripeness of the grapes, were also the variables that correlated best with the protein haze. By measuring these parameters at harvest before alcoholic fermentation, it may be possible to predict the risk of protein haze, and thus early and precisely adapt the stabilization treatment to be applied.
Highlights
All the wine regions worldwide are experiencing the impact of climate change
The musts and wines used for this study were sourced from two different geographical areas (Tarn and Gers) in the southwest wine-growing area
Cumulative rainfall (CR) between 1 April and 30 September highlighted that 2016 and 2018 were the most extreme vintages among the four studied. This parameter differed between the Gers and the Tarn
Summary
All the wine regions worldwide are experiencing the impact of climate change. Since the 1990s, its consequences have been widely studied and numerous peer-reviewed scientific journals have published articles on the subject. Global warming is a fact, with an average increase of 1 ◦ C compared to the pre-industrial revolution [1]. Temperatures became warmer during vine growth and grape ripening, leading to an advance in phenology and harvest date [2]. Climate change is leading in most cases to a decrease in rainfall and/or an increase in evapotranspiration, resulting in increasingly marked vine water deficits [3]. Stratospheric ozone depletion increases the intensity of UV radiation at ground level, leading to a modification of the vine’s physiology [4]
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