Viticultural practices: past, present and future

Grapevine (Vitis spp.) is a globally significant fruit crop, and enhancing its agronomic and oenological traits is crucial to meet changing agricultural conditions and consumer demands. Conventional breeding has played a key role in domesticating grapevine varieties, but it is a time-consuming process to develop new cultivars with desirable traits for cultivation.
New plant breeding techniques (NpBTs) offer a potential revolution in grapevine cultivation, and genome editing has shown promise for targeted mutagenesis. The success of these biotechnological approaches relies on efficient in vitro regeneration protocols, particularly through somatic embryogenesis (SE).

For sustainable viticulture, the substitution of chemical inputs with biocontrol products has become one of the most considered strategies. This strategy is based on elicitor-triggered immunity that requires a deep understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in plant defense activation. Plant immune responses are triggered through the perception of conserved microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) which are recognized by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) at the plasma membrane.

Le but de notre travail a été d’étudier l’influence de différents systèmes de la gestion du sol en viticulture sur des paramètres biologiques de sol comme indicateurs de la protection et de la qualité du sol. La conservation de sol est indispensable pour une viticulture durable et la protection du terroir. Nos résultats ont montré, que la matière

Under standard wine tasting conditions, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) responsible for the wine’s bouquet progressively invade the glass headspace above the wine surface. Most of wines being complex water/ethanol mixtures (with typically 10-15 % ethanol by volume), gaseous ethanol is therefore undoubtedly the most abundant VOC in the glass headspace [1]. Yet, gaseous ethanol is known to have a multimodal influence on wine’s perception [2]. Of particular importance to flavor perception is the effect of ethanol on the release of aroma compounds into the headspace of the beverage [1].

By the end of this century, up to 90% of traditional viticulture regions in the Mediterranean, including Sicily, are projected to face extinction due to escalating climate challenges such as severe droughts, heatwaves, and unseasonal rains.