Using climate services to project grapevine varietal adequation under climate change – application to cv. Tempranillo in the Douro wine region

The Agenda 2030 of the EU sets out the main guidelines for transitioning towards a resilient, green and safe economy. To this regard, the wine sector is experiencing an ecological transition in different ways such as increasing the production of ecological crops, or promoting the production of wines under more environmental-friendly and healthier (i.e., lower levels of SO2) products. These alternatives to conventional production are a smaller proportion of wines, in constant growth and demand, and follow alternative and minority practices, which range from sustainable to deeply philosophical thoughts. Among these methods there are organic, biodynamic and, more recently, natural wines.

Several Eurasian wild grapevine populations were found along Extremadura region (southwestern Spain). For conservation and study, one individual from four different populations (named L1, L2, L5 and L6) was vegetatively propagated and planted at Instituto de Investigaciones Agrarias Finca La Orden (CICYTEX), Badajoz. The aim of the present work was to characterize those conserved individuals from four different populations based on both an ampelographic description and a molecular analysis. Three vines per individual were studied.

The vineyard has experienced a general increase in yields mainly due to the elevated use of technology which caused a quality loss of grapes in more than one case. A large percentage of the Spanish vineyard is covered by a Denomination of Origin which limits the productive level of the vineyards as one of its regulations. The maximum production limit is a variable characteristic of each vineyard and is not usually regulated by agronomic criteria, and this explains the fact that each vineyard can reach high quality with a totally different yield from that set by the Denomination of Origin.

Less and less chemical plant protection products are approved by the E U. Plant pathogenic fungi become increasingly resistant to the active ingredients that have been around for a long time. Besides, there is a valid demand for effective products that can be applied in organic cultivation.
We examined Metschnikowia strains under laboratory conditions in order to find effective strains against B. cinerea. The antimicrobial mechanism of these yeasts is based on the competition for the ferric ions from the environment. Metschnikowia cells release the pulcherriminic acid which chelates with Fe3+, forming the pigment pulcherrimin.

Since the mid-1980s, several surveys have been carried out in La Rioja to search for populations of the sylvestris grapevine subspecies (Vitis vinifera L. subsp. sylvestris Gmelin). The banks of the Ebro River and its tributaries (Alhama, Cidacos, Leza, Iregua, Najerilla, Oja and Tirón rivers), as well as the surrounding vegetation of their valleys have been covered. So far, all the populations found are alluvial, forming part of the riparian vegetation of the Najerilla (the first reported population in La Rioja [1]), Iregua, and the vicinity of Oja valleys.