Climate change and the redefinition of tropical terroir: eco-physiological and phenolic responses of grapevines under double-pruning management in subtropical vineyards

Abstract

Climate change has intensified the need to understand how grapevines respond to increasingly warmer and more variable environments, especially in emerging viticultural regions where tropical and subtropical climates are becoming relevant for high-quality wine production. In Brazil’s subtropical Southeast, the adoption of the double-pruning system has enabled the displacement of the ripening period from the hot and rainy summer to the cooler and drier winter, promoting conditions more favorable for phenolic maturity and redefining the concept of terroir in these regions. This study evaluates the eco-physiological behavior and phenolic responses of Vitis vinifera cultivars grown under double pruning, integrating climate data, agronomic performance, and berry composition. Literature and experimental observations show that climate is the most influential environmental factor shaping grape composition, followed by water availability and soil characteristics. The dry winter, coupled with greater thermal amplitude, enhanced the accumulation of sugars, anthocyanins, and phenolic compounds, reinforcing the suitability of this management strategy for achieving higher-quality grapes in subtropical environments. Cultural practices such as leaf removal, shoot thinning, and bunch thinning contributed to improved microclimate conditions, decreased disease pressure, and optimization of ripening. The results support the idea that tropical and subtropical terroirs can be re-signified through targeted management strategies that mitigate climate constraints while enhancing expression of grape quality. These findings highlight the potential of subtropical vineyards to produce fine wines in the context of climate change, offering new insights into terroir adaptation through vine physiology, phenolic development, and human intervention.

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Acknowledgments

This work acknowledges the institutional support and the viticultural infrastructure that provided the necessary conditions for the development of this research. I express my sincere appreciation to the doctoral funding agency, CAPES – Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Project No. 88887.146853/2025-00), for its essential financial support. I also extend my gratitude to São Paulo State University (UNESP), School of Agricultural Sciences – Botucatu/SP, and to the Grupo VINCE – Núcleo de Pesquisa em Vitivinicultura e Investigação em Ciência Enológica – FCA/UNESP, whose scientific environment and technical resources significantly contributed to the advancement of this study.