Caractérisation des productions vitivinicoles des terroirs du Barolo (Piemonte, Italie)

The inherent variability of Nature poses challenges for researchers to draw clear conclusions from field experiments. Identifying and assessing adaptations to climate change requires agronomic field trials.

Climate is one of the main drivers of spatial and temporal variability in grapevine physiology and therefore a key determinant of grape composition and final wine value. The world has warmed 1.1 °C since pre-industrial times, and the latest IPCC report indicates an additional 0.5 to 1.3 °C of warming by mid-century with continental locations warming at a greater rate than the oceans.

The Priorat AOC, which is situated behind the coastal mountain range of Tarragona, is characterised by a Mediterranean climate that tends towards continentality and has very little precipitation during the vegetation cycle

Deciphering grapevine dormancy is crucial in the current context of climatic challenges: advancing budburst phenology and increased late frost probabilities, observed in the last decades and expected to further increase, require deeper understanding. Beyond higher mean temperatures, abiotic stresses such as water deficit have also been emphasized as actors. In this framework, we aimed at exploring new methodologies for tracking dormancy cycle and testing the interplay on its regulation of temperature dynamics and drought.
In a first experiment, twenty-one Vitis vinifera varieties were monitored during ecodormancy and budburst over three years.

AIM: The increasing market competitiveness is promoting the production of special dry wines with distinctive characteristics, obtained either from minor winegrape varieties and/or the inclusion of partially dehydrated grapes.