The effect of pedoclimatic conditions on the yeast assimilable nitrogen concentration on white cv. Doral in Switzerland

In Valtellina zone (north Italy), the winemaking of ‘Nebbiolo’ grapes leads to the production of two main wine types: classic red wines from fresh grapes, usually classified as Valtellina Superiore DOCG (mandatory oak aging) or Rosso di Valtellina DOC, and the Sforzato di Valtellina DOCG, which is produced using withered grapes according to traditional product specification and subjected to mandatory oak aging process. The withering process influences grape chemical composition and, in turn, the wine sensory profile, which is strongly linked to the wine quality and typicity perceived by consumers.

Grape quality potential for wine production is strongly influenced by environmental parameters and agronomic factors. Several studies underline the rootstock effect on scions vegetative growth and berry composition [1] with an impact on wine quality. Rootstocks are promising agronomic tools for climate change adaptation and in most grape-growing regions the potential diversity of rootstocks is not fully used and only a few genotypes are planted. Moreover, little is known about the effect of rootstock genetic variability on the aromatic composition in wines.

Viticulture is entangled with weather and climate. Therefore, areas currently suitable for grape production can be challenged by climate change. Winegrowers in Italy already experiences the effect of climate change, especially in the form of warmer growing season, more frequent drought periods, and increased frequency of weather extremes.
The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of climate variability and change on grape yield in Italy to provide winegrowers the information needed to make their business more sustainable and resilient to climate change. We computed a specific range of bioclimatic indices, selected by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), and correlated them to grape yield data. We have worked in collaboration with some wine consortiums in northern and central Italy, which provided grape yield data for our analysis.
Using climate variables from the E-OBS dataset we investigate how the bioclimatic indices changed in the past, and the impact of this change on grape productivity in the study areas. The climate impact on productivity is also investigated by using high-resolution convection-permitting models (CPMs – 2.2 horizontal resolution), with the purpose of estimating productivity in future emission scenarios. The CPMs are likely the best available option for this kind of impact studies since they allow a better representation of small-scale processes and features, explicitly resolve deep convection, and show an improved representation of extremes. In our study, we also compare CPMs with regional climate models (RCMs – 12 km horizontal resolution) to assess the added value of high-resolution models for impact studies. Further development of our study will lead to assessing the future suitability for vine cultivation and could lead to the construction of a statistical model for future projection of grape yield.

The current levels of greenhouse gas emissions are expecting to provoke a change on the environmental conditions which, among others, will include a rise of global mean surface temperature and an increment of atmospheric CO2 levels (IPCC, 2014), known as climate change. The response of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.), one of the most important crops in Europe, from both a cultural and economic point of view, is not completely understood yet and the studies considering the interaction between factors are scarce. Besides, the potential variety of responses among somatic variants needs to be studied in order to be exploited in the avoidance of undesired traits linked to climate change (Carbonell‐Bejerano et al., 2015).

The identification and management of intra-vineyard variability are key to precision viticulture, and sensors have been proven to be highly efficient tools for detecting these variations.