Relationship between wine composition and temperature: Impact on Bordeaux wine typicity in the context of global warming—Review

Abstract

Weather conditions throughout the year have a greater influence than other factors (such as soil and cultivars) on grapevine development and berry composition. Temperature affects gene expression and enzymatic activity of primary and secondary metabolism which determine grape ripening and wine characteristics. In the context of the climate change, temperatures will probably rise between 0.3°C and 1.7°C over the next 20 years. They are already rising and the physiology of grapevines is already changing. These modifications exert a profound shift in primary (sugar and organic acid balance) and secondary (phenolic and aromatic compounds) berry metabolisms and the resulting composition of wine. For example, some Bordeaux wines have a tendency toward reduced freshness and a modification of their ruby color. In this context it is necessary to understand the impact of higher temperatures on grape development, harvest procedures, and wine composition in order to preserve the typicity of the wines and to adapt winemaking processes.

New Zealand Winegrowers Attitudes and Behaviours towards Wine Tourism and Sustainable Winegrowing

“…Traditionally, the warmest years have tended to produce the best wines in many regions [92]. However, this idealistic scenario is actually under threat, and may actually disappear altogether as "projected increases in average temperature and climate variability over the coming decades may threaten some regions' competitive advantage" [64] (p. 60).…”

A sense of place: transcriptomics identifies environmental signatures in Cabernet Sauvignon berry skins in the late stages of ripening

“…Climate has large effects on berry development and composition [14][15][16]. Besides grape genetics other factors may influence metabolite composition including the local grape berry microbiome [17], the soil type [15] and the rootstock [18][19][20][21][22].…”

“…Temperature and light are major contributors to "terroir". Terroir refers to the environmental effects on grapes and how it contributes distinctive characteristics to the typicity of a wine [2,14,15,23]. The terroir term includes biotic and abiotic factors, soil environments as well as the viticultural practices.…”

Post‐veraison restriction of phloem import into Riesling (Vitis viniferaL.) berries induces transient and stable changes to fermentation‐derived and varietal wine volatiles

“…It is widely acknowledged that the ripening of winegrapes under supra‐optimal temperature conditions is producing fruit with increased sugar content, reduced acid and poor colour development, with negative implications for wine pH, appearance, alcohol concentration and aroma and flavour profiles (Coombe and Iland , Jones et al , Varela et al ). Consequentially, the increase in growing season temperature threatens to affect the typicity of wines, because grape composition critical to signature varietal characteristics is changing, as exemplified by the exceptionally warm 2003 vintage in Europe (Tonietto et al , Drappier et al ). One of the major challenges for modern viticulture and oenology, therefore, is the understanding and management of the relationship between grape berry ‘sugar‐ripeness’ and ‘flavour‐ripeness’ with the aim of regulating the accumulation of sugar and grape compounds critical for the production of key wine aroma and flavour compounds under changing climatic conditions.…”