viticulture

In a vineyard field experiment it was demonstrated that Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast can be adsorbed from the soil by the roots of Vitis vinifera subs. vinifera and transported via vine to the stems and surface of the grapes. To exclude any extrinsic yeast contamination, the ripening grapes were sterilized and wrapped in plastic bags. Eleven active dried yeasts from different companies were then spread onto the...

In 2011, several new field-scale experiments with biochar in vineyards were set up by the Delinat Institute. In addition to the institute's own site in Valais (Switzerland), long-term field experiments were also undertaken in three representative vineyards in France, Spain and Italy. The primary aim was to investigate the influence of biochar on vine growth and grape quality under various climatic and soil...

For three years now, the photographer Patrick Rey has been following the development and revitalisation of the ecosystem in Mythopia, week by week. Being one of the most species-rich areas in Wallis, the Delinat Institute area features itself with truly innumerable motives. In addition to praying mantises, grasshoppers, green lizards, Rock Bunting, green frogs, wild bees and dice snakes over 60 species of...

The influence of permanent green cover variants on grapevines without mechanical soil management has been investigated during the last years with respect to different parameters like soil composition or nitrogen supply. The perennial green crops have not been plowed, but mowed several times a year, leaving the organic matter to decompose and mineralize in an undisturbed soil ecosystem.

The principal idea of the new methods for a quality orientated wine growing is aimed at a precise encouragement of biodiversity. Nevertheless, the idea only arises indirectly from that esthetical image of a vineyard where one can perceive the smell of flowers and where the grasshoppers are jumping around; it is rather based on the concept of understanding the vineyard as an ecosystem, whose flexible balance is...

Wine contains a large number of aldehydes, and acetaldehyde is the most important among them due to its concentration and enological implications. It is involved in the maturation process of red wines and may be responsible for sensory defects, but can be bound spontaneously with sulfur dioxide (SO2). Its reactivity and binding with sulfites explain to a large extent why normally wines need varying amounts of SO2...