Long term influence of a cover crop in the agronomic and oenological performance of CV. Chardonnay

Il settore primario, ed in particolare quello agricolo, sta attraversando un periodo partico­larmente delicato. Sia gli aspetti della produzione che quelli della commercializzazione ven­gono infatti messi in discussione da nuovi indirizzi economici e tecnologici.

A crucial issue associated with the long-term impact of climate change in viticulture concerns the capacity of resilience of the typical varieties currently cultivated in traditional areas. Indeed, regions that are currently characterized by optimal climatic conditions can cease to be so in the future. At the same time, new premium wine production regions may arise north of 50oN. Both these threats and opportunities are based on the assessment of a very likely gradual temperature increase along the 21st century, resulting from the ensemble mean of the state-of-the-art climate projections. Such an assessment is orienting decision-makers and stakeholders to rethink the grapevine cultivation zoning, prefiguring, for each variety, a shift at higher latitudes and/or at higher altitudes areas.

An in-depth knowledge on the conditions that trigger Botrytis disease and the microbial community associated with the susceptibility/resistance to it could led to the anticipation and response to the Botrytis emergence and severity. Therefore, the present study pretends to establish links between biotic and abiotic factors and the presence/abundance of B. cinerea.

AIM: Grape withering is an oenological post-harvest process used for production of reinforced and sweet wines. Drying can be carried out by keeping the ripe grape in traditional large, well-aired rooms (non-controlled environment) or, more and more often, in a warehouse under controlled conditions of airflow and relative humidity (controlled environment)[1].

Chardonnay is the world’s most planted white grape variety and has met a great commercial success for decades.