Cover crops under-vine impact on grapevine performance and vineyard soil microorganisms is highly affected by edaphoclimatic conditions at a regional scale 

The accurate estimation of yield is a fundamental for suitable viticulture, playing a pivotal role in the planning of logistics, the allocation of resources and the formulation of commercial strategies.

The European Landscape Convention (ELC, 2001) defined the landscape as the “part of a
territory as perceived by the population and resulting from the action of natural and/or human factors and their interrelationships”. Wine landscapes, protected or not under figures such as cultural landscapes or Cultural heritage, are a clear demonstration of this definition, denoting the interrelationships of the natural
environment and the action of the human, which modulates the territory to give the different wine
landscapes. This work was focused on the study of the effect of the human factors linked to the cultivation of the vine on the modification of the landscape.

Although some wine production processes still rely on post-production evaluation and off-site laboratory analysis, the new winemaking industry is aware of a need for a better knowledge of the process to improve the properties of the final product. Thus, more and more wineries are interested in incorporating quality-by-design (QbD) strategies instead of postproduction testing because of the possibility to early detect deviations in fermentation or any other wine process. This would allow to detect unwanted situations and eventually to ‘readjust’ the process, thus minimizing rejects.

During 1982 started our wine growing project at the Puntalarga Hill, between 2500 and 2600 meters a.s.l.: 5.78 ºN, 72.98 ºW. Pinot noir, white Riesling and Riesling x Silvaner crossings are the most planted grapevines. Since 1984 research and development activities are carried out on pertinent subjects.

Several studies demonstrated how climate and soil may be key drivers of variability at different scales.