Assoenologi-Versini Prize 2019 awarded to Viviana Corich
The selection process for the scientific papers nominated for the 2019 Research for Development Awards, a competition promoted by the Italian Society of Viticulture and Enology to foster dialogue between research and production in the field of viticulture, has been concluded.
The Research for Development Awards arise from a collaboration with Assoenologi, Fondazione Edmund Mach and Oenoppia.
Peculiarity of the award is the primary role given to agronomy and oenology technicians in defining the winners, preliminarily selected by a qualified Scientific Committee, composed in 2019 of 49 scientists in the field, including 26 Italians, 15 Europeans and 8 non-Europeans.
The presentation to technicians of the selected candidate researches took place at Enoforum, the biennial conference, a privileged place for meeting and dialogue among technicians, researchers and suppliers of the international wine sector, which celebrated its 12th edition in Vicenza in 2019 with more than 1,200 participants.
The ASSOENOLOGI VERSINI Prize 2019, now in its 7th edition, dedicated to the memory of the late Trentino scientist and reserved for Italian researchers, had 27 scientific papers produced by 16 Italian research centers competing this year. The Scientific Committee included 15 of them in the program of Enoforum 2019.
The final classification sees Viviana Corich of the University of Padua as the winner, with the paper “Yeast management in the post-fermentation phases: reducing sulfite use and extending the shelf-life of Prosecco wine,” which focuses on the effects of the presence of yeast during the maturation phases of wines. Research co-authors are Chiara Nadai, Veronica Vendramin, Giulia Crosato, Milena Carlot, Deborah Franceschi, Marzio Pol, Alessio Giacomini, and Simone Vincenzi.
The research fund on which Dr. Corich is working will receive a contribution of €5,500 from Assoenologi.
The Special Innovation Prize of €1,000 to the finalist work best judged by the researchers present at Enoforum 2019 for the originality of the topic and the way the research was carried out is awarded to Giuseppina Paola Parpinello of the University of Bologna for the work “New device for protein stabilization in continuous flow of white wine” (co-authors Arianna Ricci, Marina Serantoni, Andrea Balducci, Luigi Ragni, Andrea Versari)
The Special Communication Prize of €1,000 to the finalist work best judged by the students present at Enoforum 2019 for effective communication in the presentation of results is awarded to Silvia Ruocco of the University of Udine with the work “Chemical characteristics of wine produced from disease-tolerant varieties” carried out in collaboration with the Edmund Mach Foundation (co-authors Daniele Perenzoni, Andrea Angeli, Marco Stefanini, Ernst Rühl, Claus-Dieter Patz, Fulvio Mattivi, Doris Rauhut, Urska Vrhovsek).
Versini Assoenologi Award Finalists
- Gianluca Allegro of the Department of Agri-food Sciences and Technologies – DISTAL, University of Bologna, with the paper “Effects of late pruning on technological and phenolic maturity in the Merlot cv” (co-authors Chiara Pastore, Gabriele Valentini, Emilia Colucci, Ilaria Filippetti)
- Francesco Grieco of the National Research Council-Institute of Food Production Sciences, Lecce Operating Unit, with the paper “Simultaneous alcoholic and malolactic fermentations operated by Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells and Oenoccocus oeni co-immobilization in alginate spheres” (co-authors Maria Tufariello, Gianluca Bleve, Cosimo Vetrano, Giovanni Mita)
SIVE Awards are adjudicated on the basis of evaluations by industry experts
The selection process involves three steps:
- candidates send research paper abstracts to the SIVE Secretariat, which assesses their eligibility and submits them to an initial judgment of the SIVE Scientific Committee (composed of 50 Italian and foreign researchers) based on the criterion “degree of innovation and interest of the topic”
- the best-ranked papers in the first stage are included in the program of oral presentations at the Enoforum conference and the participating technicians give their assessment of them based on the criterion “usefulness for the development of wine production”
- the finalist papers are then evaluated again by the Scientific Committee, which assesses the “scientific value” of the papers and validates the result of the technicians
Winners of past SIVE Research for Development Awards.
- SIVE Award 2007: Emilio CELOTTI, Giuseppe CARCERERI de Prati and Paolo FIORINI – “Modern approach to quality management of red grapes.”
- SIVE Award 2009: Raffaele GUZZON, Agostino CAVAZZA and Giovanni CARTURAN – “Immobilization of malo lactic starter. Technology, biological effects and experimental fermentations with O. oeni strain immobilized in hybrid silica/alginate matrices.”
- SIVE VERSINI Award 2011: Matteo GATTI, S. CIVARDI, F. BERNIZZONI, S. PONI – “Differential effects of bunch thinning and early defoliation on yield, grape composition and wine quality in Sangiovese”
- SIVE VERSINI Award 2013: Diana GAZZOLA, S. VINCENZI, A. CURIONI – “Evaluation of the clarifying capabilities of a new protein adjuvant extracted from grape seeds.”
- SIVE INTERNATIONAL AWARD 2013: Ramon MIRA DE ORDUÑA – “Complete automation and control of vinification using FT-NIR spectroscopy: An innovation that presents revolutionary opportunities.”
- SIVE VERSINI Award 2015: Fabio CHINNICI and C. RIPONI – “Control of (+)-catechin oxidation by chitosan: hypothesis for use in sulfite-reduced winemaking”
- SIVE OENOPPIA 2015 Award: Vicente FERREIRA – “Understanding and managing reduction problems.”
- ASSOENOLOGI VERSINI Award 2017: Daniela FRACASSETTI – “The taste of light in white wine: mechanisms of formation and prevention”
- SIVE OENOPPIA Award 2017: Ricardo CHAGAS – “Protein turbidity formation in white wine – the basic role of SO2 in the mechanism of protein aggregation”
