Armenia: historical origin of domesticated grapevine

to maintain viticulture under global warming conditions, it is important to carefully select the appropriate genotypes for each vine-growing region and develop cultivars that are drought resistant. this ability is highly dependent on hydraulic traits, which are dynamic and vary according to the vine’s developmental stage and climatic conditions. this framework steadily enhances our understanding of the differences in drought resistance among vitis genotypes. however, there is still a need to comprehensively grasp the intra-specific variability, particularly between oenological and table grape cultivars.

Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere due to human activities are leading to a rise in the average temperature of the atmosphere. among the scenarios established by the un’s intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC), only two enable us to achieve the minimum objective of the paris agreements signed at cop 21 in 2015: staying below +2°c after 2050. both scenarios forecast a rapid reduction in GHG emissions as early as 2025, thanks to strong international cooperation, the priority given to sustainable development and responsible consumer choices.

In mediterranean agriculture, sustainability and productivity are seriously threatened by climate change and water scarcity. This situation is exacerbated by poor management practices such as excessive use of agrochemicals, overgrazing, and monoculture. The Douro demarcated region (ddr) is an emblematic region, classified world heritage site by UNESCO in 2001. Viticulture is the main agricultural activity in DDR, widely known to produce port wine.

Wineries can increase their economic and environmental sustainability by optimizing the winemaking procedures, from harvest to wine maturation and conservation. Based on analytical data of the chemical composition and wine sensory evaluation, the enologist makes his own decision regarding the enological interventions at the harvest date selection, winemaking and post-winemaking.

The european union has estimated that energy consumption for wine production is about 1,750 million kwh per year, of which 500 million kwh is attributable to italy. In recent years, Italy has emerged as the world’s leading wine producer with about 50 million hectoliters per year. About 20 percent (9.8 million hectoliters) of Italian wine is marketed after refermentation according to the Charmat-Martinotti method.