Viticulture, landscapes and the marketing of our wine

The European geographical indication (GI) Brandy Italiano is exclusively reserved to brandy obtained in Italy from the distillation of wine from grapes grown and vinified in the national territory [1].

Volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs), mainly hydrogen sulfide and methanethiol (H2S and MeSH), are the responsible for reductive off-odor in wine.

Grapevine (Vitis spp.) is greatly influenced by climatic conditions and its economic value is therefore directly linked to environmental factors. Among these factors, temperature plays a critical role in vine phenology and fruit composition. In such conditions, elucidating the mechanisms employed by the vine to cope with heat waves becomes urgent. For the past few years, our research team has been producing molecular and metabolic data to highlight the molecular players involved in the response of the vine and the fruit to high temperatures [1]. Some of these temperature-sensitive genes are currently undergoing characterization using transgenesis approaches coupled or not with genome editing, taking advantage of the Microvine genotype [2].

To obtain a quality wine, it is necessary to collect grapes in an optimal state of maturation, so the control of the ripening process is fundamental for the viticulturist.

Italy is the leader table grape producer country in Europe and the eighth worldwide (OIV, 2021). The italian production area is sized at approximately 47,248 hectares with a production of 9.66 million quintals of grapes. Apulia and sicily are the main producing italian regions which collectively account for over the 90% of the italian production area (istat, 2022).