“Gheo” per la vitivinicoltura: un progetto per la produzione dl vini dl alta qualità

Sustainable viticulture and winemaking continue to represent huge challenges, where a better knowledge about the functional role of biodiversity in the vineyard ecosystems is required.

AIM. Wine yeast lees constitute a winemaking by-product that, unlike grape skins and seeds, are not sufficiently exploited to add value to the winemaking sector, as their treatment and disposal generally represents a cost for wineries [1].

The multi-annual study of the International Genetic Bank of the Grape Vine has shown that red varieties are enough, but the red varieties that produce high-quality red wine are minimal.

The chemical composition of grape berries at harvest is one of the key aspects influencing wine quality and depends mainly on the ripeness level of grapes. Climate change affects this trait, unbalancing technological and phenolic ripeness, and this further raises the need for a fast determination of the grape maturity in order to quickly and efficiently determine the optimal time for harvesting. To this end, the characterization of variety-specific ripening curves and the development of new and rapid methods for determining grape ripeness are of key importance.

Context and purpose of the study. As other perennial crops grapevine is facing the challenges of climate changes. One of the major issues is global warming and variations of the water budget.