REVINE project : regenerative agricultural approaches to improve ecosystem services in Mediterranean vineyards

Following the latest oiv global report (april 26, 2024), the prevailing perception of wine consumption finds itself undergoing one of its most challenging adjustments. It’s plausible to anticipate a shift in the scope of pdo wines towards more human-centered products (wells and stiefel, 2019), necessitating the entire sector to adapt strategies to public interest patterns (touzeau, 2010: 17-31). Previously, a dominant notion of cultural property underscored the value of wine regions; the primary interest revolved around estate owners and retailers, along with vigneron tales.

As viticulture faces increasing threats from emerging pests, understanding and dealing with new infestations is crucial.

Fungal diseases such as downy mildew (Plasmopara viticola) have a negative impact on grapevine yield.

Climate change is leading to a rise in average temperature and in the frequency and severity of heatwaves, and is already significantly disturbing grapevine phenology and berry composition. With the evolution of the weather of Australian grape growing regions that are already warm and hot, flavonoids, for which biosynthesis depends on bunch microclimate, are expected to be impacted. These compounds include anthocyanins and tannins which contribute substantially to grape and wine quality. The goals of this project were to determine if berry tannin accumulation is sensitive to high temperature and to enhance knowledge on upper temperature limits for viable wine production, in turn informing critical timing for mitigation strategies.

Plant diseases are a major obstacle to crop production. The main approaches to battle plant diseases, consist of synthetic chemicals to attack infecting pathogens. However, concerns are increasing about the effects of chemicals in the environment, leading to an increase in the use of biocontrol agents (BCAs), due to their assets, such as, antagonism, and competition. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the introduction of Bacillus subtilis PTA-271 (Bs PTA-271) and Trichoderma atroviride SC1 (Ta SC1) produce distinctive modifications in the composition and network structure of the grapevine rhizosphere microbial community, as well as grapevine induced defenses.