Long-term drought resilience of traditional red grapevine varieties from a semi-arid region

Due to the central role of the ripening timing in the evaluation of the varietal response to the environmental resources, a method to manage maturation curves has been developed. The method produces an index of veraison precocity and overcomes several methodological problems, like the visual evaluation of the veraison point and the multi-annual and multi-varieties data processing. It is based on a statistical and mathematical processing of the sugar ripening curves.

Climate change is leading to a rise in average temperature and in the frequency and severity of heatwaves, and is already significantly disturbing grapevine phenology and berry composition. With the evolution of the weather of Australian grape growing regions that are already warm and hot, flavonoids, for which biosynthesis depends on bunch microclimate, are expected to be impacted. These compounds include anthocyanins and tannins which contribute substantially to grape and wine quality. The goals of this project were to determine if berry tannin accumulation is sensitive to high temperature and to enhance knowledge on upper temperature limits for viable wine production, in turn informing critical timing for mitigation strategies.

Grapevine faces multiple biotic and/or abiotic stresses, which are interrelated. Depending on their incidence, they can have a negative impact on the development and production of the plant, but also on its longevity, leading to vine dieback. One of the consequences of vine dieback on production is the increased replacement rate of dead or missing vines within a parcel.

Late season dehydration, bunch stem necrosis, sugar accumulation disorder and sunburn are various types of berry shrivel occurring in vineyards. The incidence of these types of shrivel, and the degree to which it occur are influenced by various factors in the vineyard. These factors include the presence of pests and diseases in the vineyard, genetic traits expressed in certain cultivars, as
well as climatic and environmental factors. The occurrence of berry shrivel in the vineyard could negatively impact the quality and quantity of the fruit produced.

REVINE is a 3 year European projected funded by PRIMA programme which proposes the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices with an innovative and original perspective, in order to improve the resilience of vineyards to climate change in the Mediterranean area.
Regenerative agriculture ameliorates soil structure and microbial biodiversity that, in turn, leads to crop resilience against biotic and abiotic stressful factors. Moreover, enrichment of beneficial microbes in the rhizosphere, such as PGPR and PGPF, are known to trigger the plant immunity inducing the priming state.