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…

Impact of enological enzymes on aroma profile of Prosecco wines during second fermentation and sur lie aging

Proseccco is a famous italian Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) produced in two regions: Veneto e Friuli Venezia Giulia, however, the production is mainly concentrated in the province of Treviso. These territories are characterized by plains with some hilly areas and temperate climate. Its Production regulation provides a minimum utilization of 85% of Glera grapes, a local white grape variety, and up to a maximum of 15% of other local and international varieties. Prosecco second fermentation takes place, according to the Charmat method, in autoclaves.

Elaboration des cartes conseils pour une gestion du terroir à l’échelle parcellaire: utilisation d’algorithmes bases sur des paramètres physiques du milieu naturel

The “Anjou Terroirs” programme aims at bringing the necessary scientific basis for a ratio­nal and reasoned exploitation of the technical itinerary of the terroir. The scale study is 1/12500. For the mapping, many parameters, such as the granulometry or the depth of soil are observed to each point of caracterisation.

Georgian vitis germplasm: conservation, research and usage

Grapevine Vitis vinifera L. is a leader perennial crops for the Republic of Georgia, the South Caucasus. This is a region where the first wine making practice was initiated 8.000 years ago (McGovern et al. 2017) and a spot of grape domestication. The country of Georgia holds 525 local and more than 60 breeding varieties – they are preserved in 9 field collections inside the country.The list of recommended wine cultivars contains 34 names, including 27 old autochthonous varieties and covering 94% of the country’s vineyards.

Effect of non-Saccharomyces yeast and lactic acid bacteria on selected sensory attributes and polyphenols of Syrah wines

Consumers predominantly use visual, aromatic and texture cues as quality/preference indicators to describe olfactory sensations. In this study, the effect of micro-organism in wine production was investigated using analytical and sensory techniques to achieve relevant analytical characterisation. Selected anthocyanins, flavan-3-ols, flavonols and phenolic acids were quantified in Syrah wines using RP-HPLC-DAD. Standard oenological parameters were also measured. Syrah grape must was fermented with various combinations of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) and non-Saccharomyces (Metschnikowia pulcherrima or Hanseniaspora uvarum) yeasts, which was followed by sequential inoculation of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (Oenococcus oeni or Lactobacillus plantarum).

Foamability of bentonite treated wines: impact of new acacia gum fractions obtained by ionic exchange chromatography (IEC)

Copper (Cu) is known to substantially impact wine stability through oxidative, reductive or colloidal phenomena. Recent work has shown that Cu exists predominantly in a sulfide-bound form, which may act as a potential source of sulfidic off-odours in wine and hence contribute to reductive flavours