In a global landscape where competition is increasingly intense, quality has become an essential standard in all sectors, including the wine industry. This evolution is amplified by the growing expectations of consumers who, endowed with access to a wide range of options and information, are becoming increasingly demanding in their choices. For wine producers, this context imposes not only a struggle to differentiate themselves, but also the need to continuously improve the quality of their products in order to remain relevant and competitive.Negru de Drăgășani is an autochthonous grape variety from Romania, cultivated predominantly in the Drăgășani region in the southwest. This variety was obtained by crossing the Negru Vârtos and Saperavi varieties, thus combining their qualities to produce a wine with unique characteristics. The wines produced from the Negru de Drăgășani variety are valued for their complex aromatic profile and aging potential.This variety produces wines with a rich and complex bouquet. Aromatic notes include black and red fruits such as blackcurrants, blackberries and cherries, complemented by hints of spices, dark chocolate, coffee and vanilla, especially when the wine has been matured in wooden barrels.

The yield, expressed as the production of grapes per surface unit or per plant, plays a role of first importance in the set of factors on which wine production and its quality depend. The control of the yield and the possibilities of intervention for its adjustment are of major importance especially for obtaining high quality wines. Cluster thinning at fallow has proven to be a very effective method to regulate the yield and quality of grape production by increasing sugar content and decreasing total acidity. The vine will have the opportunity to ripen a smaller number of grapes in the interval from véraison to harvest. In this study, cluster thinning resulted in larger and riper grapes remaining at harvest compared to the control where the number of grapes per cluster was not reduced.

The basic idea that governs the tracking of the ripening of grapes, in order to determine the time of harvest, is that the grapes harvested at the best time, considered optimal, allow the extraction of the maximum quality from the constituents of the grains (in our case, the maximum of phenolic compounds).The degree of ripening of the grapes largely determines the must yield during primary vinification, but especially the composition and quality of the resulting wine. A premature harvest leads to a decrease in the must yield, while a delay results in harvest losses and a decrease in the total acidity of the must, both inconvenient situations leading to a decrease in the content of polyphenols.All these considerations converge towards the final goal, namely, to capitalize as effectively as possible on the oenological potential of the varieties, for the production of quality red wines, polyphenolic and sensorial balanced.

Bologna sausage, also called “la grassa”, is a very popular meat product despite its high fat content and lipidic profile raising serious negative health concerns. An emulsion gel containing olive, walnut, and chia oils, stabilized with soy protein isolate, transglutaminase, and chitosan, was used as total pork backfat replacer in Bologna sausage. The nutritional, textural, and technological properties were assessed and sensory analyses were conducted. Color, pH, and lipid oxidation were monitored during 18 days of cold storage (4 °C). A normal fat Bologna sausage was used as a control reference. A decrease in the n-6/n-3 ratio from 16.85 to 1.86 (by 9 times) was achieved in the reformulated product as compared with the control, while the PUFA/SFA ratio increased from 0.57 to 1.61. Color measurements indicated that the lightness and yellowness increased while redness slightly decreased in the reformulated product. The total substitution of pork backfat in Bologna sausage by the emulsion gel developed in the present study was realized without significantly affecting the technological properties, the oxidative stability and the overall acceptance by the consumers.

The paper presents some viticultural centers in Oltenia, where viticulture, once well-represented, has seen a decline in terms of cultivated areas and interest in using grape production through winemaking (e.g., Brabova, Brădești, Plenița). The paper aimed to highlight the history of the place, the evolution of vineyards in the area, as well as recent activities focused on the capitalization of the economic potential of the localities that are the viticultural centers. With the launch of the Wine Route concept, tourist interest in wine-producing and historical areas has increased, especially since wine tourism offers interesting experiences through wine tastings, gastronomic dishes, and the beauty of the places. For this reason, the long-term tourism development of the Oltenia region should also consider oenotourism resources, which ensure the diversification of the local economy and the creation of new job opportunities for the community, with an impact on improving the quality of life for residents.

The aromatic profiles of eight white wines from Romanian and international grape varieties were analysed to characterize and also differentiate them. All wines come from the Dragasani vineyard. Monoterpenes, higher alcohols, fatty acids ethyl esters, acetates were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Alcohols were the most abundant class for Sauvignon, Muscat Ottonel varieties, esters for Italian Riesling, Feteasca regala varieties. Terpenes (linalool, terpineol, nerol) were identified only in aromatic and semi-aromatic wines -Tamaioasa romaneasca, Muscat Ottonel and Sauvignon, Feteasca regala. According to odor activity values (OAVs), not all of the determined compounds had concentrations higher than their odor thresholds.

To investigate the behaviour of volatile compounds during a traditional alembic distillation, large numbers of important volatile compounds were identified and quantified by GC/MS and GC/FID analysis in different fractions of fruits mash distillates made from two pears varieties, one peach variety and blackberry and cranberry fruits. The purpose of this investigation was to determinate the volatile compounds distribution of higher alcohols, esters, aldehydes and terpenes in some fruits fraction of distillates. Because of the abundance in odoriferous monoterpenes, utilization of the tail fraction as a raw material for re-distillation was considered appropriate.

Yield is one of the factors with major influence on the quality of grapevine production. Winter pruning is the first way to control yield. In this study we applied 3 cutting variants to 4 clones of Cabernet Sauvignon from SA¢mbureE™ti vineyard, one of the most famous Romanian vineyards for quality red wines. The results of the study show that in order to obtain the typical Cabernet Sauvignon wines in the SA¢mbureE™ti vineyard, winter pruning is recommended with a maximum of 9 nodes/m2 or a delay in harvesting until more advanced stages of maturity compared to what we applied in this study.

This paper presents the results of the study on the dynamics of the surfaces and table grapes productions in Romania, depending on the favourability of the various wine-growing areas, as well as the main stages of the wine sector evolution over the last 3 decades. There are also stated issues related to the evolution of fresh grapes consumption, the evolution of imports and the structure of the assortment. Over the last three decades, Romania's total table grapes surface under production decreased by 73.47%, while the production decreased by 63.34% in the same period. It is noted that although Romania has valuable seeded and seedless table grape varieties, as a result of the last 4 decades in the field of table grape breeding, they have a share of only 4% of the total area cultivated with table grape varieties, which indicates insufficient and inefficient use of Romania's genetic resources. Compared to 2000, the volume of imports increased by + 125% in 2004, reaching in 2014 29,000 tons of imports (an increase by +625% compared to 2000 and by + 163.7% compared to 2010).

Six red wines obtained in the years 2012 and 2013 were analyzed in the Samburesti vineyard from various clone / rootstock combinations, the Cabernet Sauvignon variety. All wines had high content of polyphenolic compounds, which is good for aging. Their sensory attributes in the first year after production were less appreciated at tasting, being very intense colored and abundant of blue pigments. Also, the smell was dominated by heavier, vegetal, grassy flavors that take time to improve.

The Dranic plantation is one of the youngest in Dolj county and was founded in 2010 through the process of reconversion and restructuring of the wine sector in our country. Under the favorable ecologically conditions for viticulture in the Oltenia area, the varieties for red wines besides the superior potential of glucidic accumulation, have a remarkable ability for biosynthesis of anthocyanins. The chromatic structures of the anthocyanin extracts represented by the yellow, red and blue pigments are balanced, attractive and fully in line with current requirements. They are dimensioned by colour intensity values, but especially by the qualitative chromatic indicators: the colour tone and the proportions of the flavylium cations. This study may be the start for the suitability of this area for obtaining high-quality red wines.

Early conditioning treatments have been shown to have an effect of ameliorating properties without harmful effects on important quality characteristics. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of some treatments on aroma compounds and also sensory and quality properties of young white wine.The conditioning treatments influenced the physic-chemical parameters of the white wines; however, the results of the wine analysis indicate that there was a large variation in the concentration of free and total values of sulfur dioxide (SO2).As for the content of volatile aromatic compounds, relative to the initial values, the additional and minor quantitative variations recorded during the treatments lead to higher or lower volatile compound contents (in some cases)

The present paper represents a study upon the influence of the prefermentative operations and of certain biotechnological factors on the flavored complex and the main quality chemical parameters of the wines obtained from the grapes variety Muscat Ottonel, from the Dragasani vineyard, Romania. As a result of the studies carried out by means of the gas-chromatography, it has been noticed that the different types of maceration enrich the must in free flavors and influence the contents in hexanol, hexanal and the PH of the obtained wines. The association of the maceration with the addition of enzymes in the must present favorable consequences of oenological type.

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography method with diode array detection was developed for the determination of trans- and cis-resveratrol in red wines. Separation was achieved after direct injection by the use of a BDS Hypersil C18 column (250 × 4.6 mm) with gradient elution (solvent A: acetic acid 2%, solvent B: acetonitrile). Detection of trans- and cis-resveratrol was performed at 306 and 286 nm, respectively. The retention times of trans- and cis-resveratrol were 22.2 and 26.1 min, respectively. Good linearity and precision were obtained for the two isomers. Detection limits of 0.004 mg/L for trans-resveratrol and 0.02 mg/L for cis-reveratrol were obtained. The developed method was applied to determine cis- and trans-resveratrol in 30 red wines produced in Oltenia (southwestern Romania). The wines came from different vineyards harvested in various vintages. The concentration of trans-resveratrol ranged from 0.287 to 7.188 mg/L, while the content of cis-resveratrol ranged from 0.718 to 6.587 mg/L. The highest amount of trans-resveratrol was found in Merlot from Vanju Mare, Mehedinti (7.188 mg/L), followed by Sirah from Corcova, Mehedinti (4.738 mg/L), both from the 2010 harvest. The paper also approaches the study of the transformation of trans-resveratrol into the cis form after ultraviolet irradiation through glass and quartz. At the irradiation of a trans-resveratrol solution through quartz, the formation of another two compounds apart from cis-resveratrol was observed.