Climate change projections to support the transition to climate-smart viticulture

The aroma of wine is one of the most important determinants of quality as it strongly influences the consumer’s acceptance or rejection. Among the thousands of molecules comprising the wine aroma, sulfur-containing compounds can be considered as a “double-edged sword”: some of them, deriving from varietal precursors provide fruity pleasant aromas, while other ones, produced by yeast metabolism are related to “unpleasant” aromas

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.

Un’ Area di Viticultura Americana, detta AVA, è una regione vinicola delimitata ed è dis­tinguibile da caratteristiche geografiche i cui confini sono stati definiti da regolamenti. Il sistema AVA rappresenta un ‘accettazione del concetto di terroir (terreno), come dimostra­no gli studi che confermano il carattere regionale dei vini AVA e dalla sviluppo di sub­denominazioni più relazionate al terreno.

In viticoltura, la comprensione dell’influenza della temperatura dell’aria sulla dinamica della maturazione assume importante rilievo in relazione all’ ottimizzazione dell’ epoca di raccolta da cui dipende in modo significativo la qualità del prodotto finale.

This work is a first step to make a map of vineyard soils. The characterization of the soils of the Protected Designation of Origin (D.P.O.) Valdepeñas will allow to group the studied profiles according to their physico-chemical characteristics and the concentrations of most relevant chemical elements. 90 soil profiles were analysed throughout the territory and the soils were sampled and described according to FAO (2006) and classified according to and Soil Taxonomy (2014). All samples were air dried, sieved and some physico-chemical parameters were determined following standard protocols. Also, major and trace elements were analysed by X-ray fluorescence. The statistically study was made using the SPSS program. Trend maps were made using the ArcGIS program. The studied soils have the following average properties: pH, 8.3; electrical conductivity, 0,20 dS/m (low); clay, 18.8% (medium) and CaCO3, 17.1% (high). In the study for the major elements. The major elements of these soils are Si, followed by Ca and Al, with an average content of 203.7 g/kg, 105.5 g/kg and 74.0 g/kg respectively. On the other hand, 27 trace elements have been studied. Of all of them, it can be highlighted the average values of Ba (361.8 mg/kg), Sr (129.3 mg/kg), Rb (83.4 mg/kg), V (74.2 mg/kg) and Ce (70.6 mg/kg). Ba, V and Ce values are higher and the values of Sr and Rb are lower to those found in the literature. The discriminant analysis shows a percentage of grouping of 91%. The content of chemical elements together with the physico-chemical characteristics allows grouping the soils in 4 group according to their order in the classification to Soil Taxonomy; due to the importance of the Calcisols in Castilla-La Mancha, it has been decided to establish them as their own group even if they do not appear in Soil Taxonomy classification.