Soil Temperature and Climate Change: Implications for Mediterranean Vineyards 

Climate change is increasing crop evapotranspiration and reducing water availability, especially in the Mediterranean area.

Calcium-induced instabilities present a major challenge in bottled wines, with calcium tartrate (CaT) precipitation becoming increasingly common due to rising calcium levels in grape must, largely driven by climate change. Although CaT is an insoluble salt, its instability— although less frequent than potassium hydrogen tartrate (KHT) precipitation—is more difficult to predict and control, as it develops gradually over time.

Conventional viticulture improved the quality of production, but the economic costs can be unsustainable. Today, producers need to consider consumers’ demands for healthy, eco-friendly products. Institutions promote sustainable agriculture, with regenerative agriculture being the latest generation of methodologies focused on recovering losses and ensuring future sustainability. The revine project studies regenerative agricultural technology applied in mediterranean countries to provide precise indications for soil processing and effective vineyard treatments.

Agrivoltaics (AV), the innovative dual-use of land for agriculture and photovoltaic energy production on the same land, offers a promising solution to the challenges of expanding renewable energy without compromising valuable agricultural land.

Wines differ from each other based on seven different factors: the type of grape; the bedrock geology and resulting soils; the climate; the soil hydrology; physiography of the site; the winemaker and the vineyard management techniques. The first five of these factors make up what the French call terroir, “the taste of the place”.