The research group from the Analytical Chemistry Department of the Science and Technology Faculty at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) organized its 4th Session in Oyón (Alava) on 18 June last to show the main progress of its research on the viticultural sector to representatives of the Rioja Alavesa wineries taking part in this project.

Since 2004, this group of researchers, led by Dr. Luis Ángel Berrueta, has been working on two projects studying two factors that directly affect the way of measuring wine quality. The first of these is developing a fast, simple method of determining the anthocyanic contents of wine, a parameter that controls wine colour. The second research project, meanwhile, is studying the molecular markers for ageing and, more specifically, analyzing the evolution, in the winery, of the anthocyanin-derived pigments which are present in red Crianza and Reserva wines from La Rioja.

These two projects, which reflect the public-private cooperation to improve competitiveness in the wine-producing sector, are backed by the participation of five of the leading wineries in the Rioja Alavesa (Faustino, Cune, El Coto de Rioja, Cosecheros de Labastida and Torre de Oña) and of the Association of Wineries of the Rioja Alavesa (ABRA). Both projects have obtained funding from the Basque Government Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism and Department of the Environment, Territorial Planning, Agriculture and Fisheries.