Historical terraced vineyards – heritage and nature conservation strategies

Climate influences viticulture and wine production at various scales with the majority of attention given to regional characteristics that define the general varieties that can be grown and the wine styles that can be produced.

Shrinking berries are the common symptoms of Berry Shrivel (BS) and Late-Season-Dehydration (LSD) in grapevine cultivars.

When talking about terroir, scientists and lay wine tasters, very much including wine journalists and wine growers, too often talk past one another.

Fining is a technique that is used to remove unwanted wine components that affect clarification, astringency, color, bitterness, and aroma. Fining involves the addition of adsorptive or reactive material in order to reduce or eliminate the presence of certain less desirable wine components and to ensure that a wine remains in a particular stable state for a given period of time Recently concerns have been raised about the addition of animal proteins, such as gelatin, to wine due to the disease known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (Mad Cow disease). Although the origin of gelatins has been moved to porcine, winemakers are asking for substitute products with properties and application protocols similar to the traditional animal-derived ones, making the use of plant-derived proteins in fining a practically viable possibility. As a consequence, various fining agents derived from plants have been proposed, including proteins from cereals, legumes, and potato.

Water deficit is one of the most important effects of climate change able to affect agricultural sectors. In general, it determines a reduction in biomass production, and for some plants, as in the case of grapevine, it can endorse fruit quality. The monitoring and management of plant water stress in the vineyard