The legs, church windows or tears of wine. Many a wine drinker and scientist have swirled the wine through their glass and watched this phenomenon…
Terroir, water status, minerality and earthy aromas The soil is one of the aspects that determine the ‘terroir’ of wine. But exactly what effect does…
Climate change, consumer preferences or even taxes are all reasons for producing wine with less alcohol. However, it is more difficult than it seems to…
Grapevines have been selected for their favorable properties since ancient times. Only the best vines, with large bunches, great vigor, or improved disease resistance were…
Global warming causes an accelerated ripening of the grapes, and this is not always beneficial. An increased temperature during the growing season and the ripening…
Wood fungi infect the grapevine and produce phytotoxins, substances that are toxic to the plant. There are no curative agents available, which makes these wood…
Proteins are produced in the grape during the ripening process, and in response to diseases and injuries1. These proteins end up in the wine and…
Every year when the alcoholic fermentation is over, the fermentation tanks are cleaned and the residual lees are removed. This mixture of dead yeast cells,…
Aging on dead yeast cells, the “lees”, is a technique to improve the wine’s aromas and mouthfeel. However, aging on lees takes a very long…
Phylloxera, the great plague of Europe is back! The current rootstocks are not, or only partially, resistant to new phylloxera populations. A new crisis seems…