The adaptative capacity of a viticultural area (Valle Telesina, Southern Italy) to climate changes

Abstract

The viticulture aiming at the production of high quality wine is very important for the landscape conservation, because it allows to combine high farmer income with soil conservation. The quality of grape and wine is variety-specific and it depends significantly on the pedoclimatic conditions. The evolution of climate may thus endanger not only yield (IPCC, 2007) but, more significantly, the sustainability of current varieties. Adaptation of current production systems may be feasible, but requires a timely evaluation of whether adaptation to climate evolution might be limited to improving crop and soil management or should involve replacement of cvs or species altogether.
This study addressed this question by evaluating the adaptive capacity of a 20000 ha viticultural area in the “Valle Telesina” (Campania Region, Southern Italy). This area has a long tradition in the production of high quality wines (DOC and DOCG) and it is characterized by a complex geomorphology with a large soil and climate variability.
Two climate periods were considered: “past” (1984-1996) and “present” (2000-2009), which show a pattern of climate variability. The periods were taken as an example of different scenarios generated by climate changes.
The Amerine & Winkler index was calculated in each climate period and compared with the thermal requirements of a set of grapevine cvs, including the ones currently cultivated in the area.
Due to the observed trend of temperature increase from the “past” to the “present” period, differences were detected in the A&W index’s values and spatial distribution. When compared with the A&W indexes of the grape varieties the temperature increase resulted in a considerable increase of the area eligible to some varieties (Guarnaccia and Forastera) and a strong reduction of the area suitable for some of the most important current varieties (Aglianico and Falanghina).
Moreover, the hydrological model SWAP was applied to estimate the Crop Water Stress Index (CWSI) in the “present” climatic period, in order to evaluate the effects of the re-distribution of the cultivars over the study area on vineyards’ water balance.
This approach is being applied to other crops and other production systems towards quantitative, realistic studies on the adaptation of agriculture to climate evolution.

DOI:

Publication date: December 3, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2010

Type: Article

Authors

A. Bonfante (1), A. Basile (1), F. De Lorenzi (1), G. Langella (1), F. Terribile (2), M. Menenti (3)

(1) Institute for Mediterranean Agricultural and Forest Systems (ISAFOM-CNR), Ercolano (NA), Italy
(2) University of Naples Federico II, Portici (NA), Italy
(3) Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands

Contact the author

Keywords

Grapevine adaptative capacity, Amerine & Winkler index, SWAP, Climate changes, quality viticulture

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2010

Citation

Related articles…

Étude de la cinétique de transfert du 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) entre des bouchons en liège naturel et le vin – premiers résultats

The last step in winemaking is packaging the wines for market placement, while preserving the quality attained during vinification. Since the 1980s, 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) has been recognised as an incidental and random contaminant of cork, with its migration into wine thought to contribute to ‘cork taint’. This molecule is not a cork component and little is known about how it is formed on trees. Its formation from the chlorine used to wash the cork stoppers, long suspected, has been excluded by the abandonment of chlorine washing.

Influence of must fining on oxygen consumption rate, oxidation susceptibility and electrochemical characteristics of different white grape musts

AIM: Pre-fermentative fining is one of the central steps of white wine production. Mainly aiming at reducing the levels of suspended solids, juice fining can also assist in reducing the content of oxidizable phenolics and therefore the susceptibility of juice to oxidation.

Effects of post-veraison irrigation dose on Cabernet-Sauvignon vines in a dry and warm season in Valencia, Spain

In the old-world viticulture, there is a common but most often not scientifically proved consideration that supplemental irrigation should detrimentally affect berry and wine composition. In the semi-arid

OPTIMIZING THE IDENTIFICATION OF NEW THIOLS AT TRACE LEVEL IN AGED RED WINES USING NEW OAK WOOD FUNCTIONALISATION STRATEGY

During bottle aging, many thiol compounds are involved in the expression of bouquet of great aged red wines according to the quality of the closure.1,2 Identifying thiol compounds in red wines is a challenging task due several drawbacks including, the complexity of the matrix, the low concentration of these impact compounds and the amount of wine needed.3,4
This work aims to develop a new strategy based on the functionalisation of oak wood organic extracts with H₂S, to produce new thiols, in order to mimic what can happen in red wine during bottle aging. Following this approach and through sensory analysis experiments, we demonstrated that the vanilla-like aroma of fresh oak wood was transformed into intense “meaty” nuances similar to those found in old but non oxidized red wines.

Phenolic composition and chromatic characteristics of blends of cv. Tempranillo wines from vines grown with different viticultural techniques in a semi-arid area

The quality and color stability of red wines are directly related to content and distribution of phenolic compounds. However, the climate change produces the asynchrony between the dates of technological and maturity of grapes. The crop-forcing technique (CF) restores the coupling between phenolic and technological ripeness while limits vineyard yields. Blending of wines is frequently used to equilibriate composition of wines and to increase their stability, color and quality. The aim of the present work is to study the phenolic composition and color of wine blends made with FW (wines from vines subjected to CF) and CW (wines for vines under the usual cultivation practices).