Impact of climate variability and change on grape yield in Italy

Far from complicated discussions on the relevant way to define « terroir », this article deals with the social perception that French young adults (aged from 18 to 30) have of this concept and the way it can help them to become wine consumers.

Winemaking areas recognized as protected designations of origin (PDOs) shape important economic, environmental and cultural values that are tied to closely defined geographic locations. To preserve wine products and wine-growing practices adopted in different PDOs these areas are strictly regulated by legal specifications. However, quality viticulture is increasingly under pressure from climate change, which is altering the local conditions of many winegrowing areas. Therefore, maintaining traditional wine products will require the adoption of tailored adaptation strategies, including possible changes in the legal regulation of protected wines. To this end, it is necessary to have a comprehensive knowledge on PDOs including their extension, products and allowed practices. While there have been efforts to build databases that summarize the characteristics for individual wine PDO areas and to quantify the related effects of climate change, much information is still included only in the official documentation of the EU geographical indication register and has never been collected in a comprehensive manner. With this study we aim at filling this gap by building a spatial inventory of European wine PDOs that supports decision making in viticulture in the context of climate change. To map and characterize European wine PDOs, we analysed their legal documents and extracted relevant information useful for climate change adaptation. The output consists of a comprehensive geographical dataset that identifies the boundaries of all 1200 European wine PDOs at unprecedented spatial resolution and includes a set of legally binding regulations, such as authorized vine varieties, maximum yields and planting density. The inventory will allow researchers to analyse the impacts of climate change on European wine PDOs and support decision makers in developing tailored adaptation strategies. This includes, among others, the evaluation of new vineyard site selection, the expansion of cultivated varieties or the authorization of irrigation in vineyards.

Aging on lees (AOL) is a powerful technique to protect varietal aroma and color. Simultaneously, helps to soften tannins and increase and improve wine body and structure. AOL is complementary to barrel aging modulating the wood impact and protecting wine from oxidative conditions.

Galicia est une région située dans le Nord-Ouest de l’Espagne avec une longe tradition de culture de la vigne. A jour d’oui la vigne occupe en Galicia presque 28.500 ha, desquelles 8.100 correspondent aux 5 zones ayant droit à l’appellation DO (« Denominación de Origen ») équivalent aux AOC françaises.

The tropical north region of Minas Gerais State is one of the least developed of Brazil and viticulture could be an alternative to develop its agriculture zone. The objective of this work was to evaluate the wine grape production climatic potential of that region.