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 encourage dialogue between research and production in the wine field, has concluded. The Research for Development Awards are the result of a collaboration with Assoenologi, Fondazione Edmund Mach and Oenoppia.

A special feature of the award is the primary role given to agronomists and oenologists in defining the winners, who are preliminarily selected by a qualified Scientific Committee, composed in 2019 of 49 scientists in the sector, of which 26 are Italian, 15 European and 8 non-European. The presentation of the shortlisted research nominations to the technicians took place at Enoforum, the biennial conference that is a privileged meeting place and a forum for dialogue between technicians, researchers and suppliers of the international wine sector, which in 2019 held its twelfth edition in Vicenza with over 1,200 participants.

The ASSOENOLOGI VERSINI 2019 Award, now in its 7th edition, dedicated to the memory of the late Trentino scientist and reserved for Italian researchers, this year saw the presentation of 27 scientific papers produced by 16 Italian research centers. The Scientific Committee has included 15 of them in the Enoforum 2019 program.

The final classification gives as winner Viviana Corich, from the University of Padua, with her work “Yeast management in the post-fermentation phases: reduction of sulfite use and prolongation of Prosecco wine shelf life”, focused on the effects of the presence of yeasts during the maturation phases of wines. The co-authors of the research 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 euros from Assoenologi.

The Special Prize for Innovation, endowed with €1,000, to the finalist paper best rated 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, University of Bologna, for her paper “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 Award, endowed with 1. 000 Euros, to the finalist paper best valued by the students present at Enoforum 2019 for the effectiveness of the communication in the presentation of the results, is awarded to Silvia Ruocco, University of Udine, with the paper “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).

Finalistas of the Assoenologi Versini Award.

• 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, Operational Unit of Lecce, with the paper “Simultaneous alcoholic and malolactic fermentations carried out by Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Oenoccocus oeni cells co-mobilized in alginate spheres” (co-authors Maria Tufariello, Gianluca Bleve, Cosimo Vetrano, Giovanni Mita).

The SIVE Awards are granted on the basis of evaluations carried out by industry experts.

The selection process consists of three steps

• candidates send their research abstracts to the SIVE Secretariat, which evaluates their eligibility and submits them to a first judgment of the SIVE Scientific Committee (composed of 50 Italian and foreign researchers) on the basis of the criteria “degree of innovation and interest of the topic”.
• the best ranked papers in the first phase are included in the program of oral presentations at the Enoforum conference and the participating technicians express their assessment of them on the basis of the criterion “usefulness for the development of wine production”.
• the finalist papers are re-evaluated by the Scientific Committee, which assesses their “scientific value” and validates the technicians’ results.

Winners of previous editions of the SIVE Research for Development Awards

• SIVE Award 2007: Emilio CELOTTI, Giuseppe CARCERERI of 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 starters. Technology, biological effects and experimental fermentations with O. oeni strains immobilized in hybrid silica/alginate matrices.”
• SIVE VERSINI Award 2011: Matteo GATTI, S. CIVARDI, F. BERNIZZONI, S. PONI – »Differential effects of cluster 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 capacity of a new protein adjuvant extracted from grape seeds»
• 2013 SIVE VERSINI Award: Ramon MIRA DE ORDUÑA – «Full automation and control of vinifications by FT-NIR spectroscopy: An innovation presenting ground-breaking opportunities»
• SIVE VERSINI Award 2015: Fabio CHINNICI and C. RIPONI – “Control of (+)-catechin oxidation by chitosan: hypothesis of use in sulfite-reduced winemaking”.
• SIVE OENOPPIA 2015 Award: Vicente FERREIRA – “Understanding and managing reduction issues”.
• ASSOENOLOGI VERSINI 2017 Award: Daniela FRACASSETTI – “The taste of light in white wine: mechanisms of formation and prevention”.
• SIVE OENOPPIA 2017 Award: Ricardo CHAGAS – “Protein turbidity formation in white wine – the basic role of SO2 in the protein aggregation mechanism”