Climate change is driving global temperatures up together with a reduction of rainfall, posing a risk to grape yields, wine quality, and threatening the historical viticulture areas of Europe.
Launching the GiESCO guide
Based on the results of experiments since 2000 at the Institut Agro Montpellier and at INRAE – Pech Rouge, and on the international experience acquired during scientific missions, a global reflection on the opportunities offered by climate change is proposed.
The regulation of weeds, particularly in the under-vine area of grapevines, is essential for the maintenance of grape yield and quality.
Global challenges, including adaptation to climate change, decrease of the environmental impacts and maintenance of the economical sustainability shape the future of viticulture.
Implementing artificial intelligence (AI) in viticulture and enology is a rapidly growing field of research with an essential number of potential practical applications.
Climate can greatly affect grape yield and quality (van Leeuwen et al., 2024). Growing suitable cultivars in a given region and or breed environmental resilient cultivars are essential for maintaining viticulture sustainability, particularly in the face of climate change (Wolkovich et al., 2018).
As an industry that thrives more on, but may also be more affected by, vintage variation and regionality than any other agricultural enterprise, grape and wine production is ever more being impacted challenged by climate change.
As six on the nine planetary boundaries have already been crossed, putting our safe life on Earth at risk (Rockström et al., 2024) and agriculture is significantly responsible for it (Campbell et al., 2017), viticulture, faces the challenge of reducing its environmental impacts through fundamental changes to its practices.
In recent years, the increase in temperature and the changes in rainfall distribution caused by climate change are affecting vine and grape physiology and are consequently impacting wine composition and quality (Schultz, 2000; Jones et al., 2005).
In response to increasing societal demands for environmentally-friendly viticulture, winegrowers are adapting their cultivation techniques, particularly by reducing the use of herbicides.
Context and purpose of the study. Sparkling wine production is majorly impacted by climate change as sugar accumulation and aromatic development in grapes are often decoupled.
Nitrogen (N) is applied in the vineyard or the winery in wine production systems. The influence of different routes of N application is not well understood.
Context and purpose of the study. Climate change threatens traditional winegrowing regions, with about 90% of areas like southern France at risk by the end of the century due to heatwaves and droughts.
Climate change results in increasing water stress due to co-effects of rising evapotranspiration (ET) and decreased precipitation over the past 65 years (Spinoni et al. 2019).
Context and purpose of the study. Current remote sensing strategies rely heavily on reflectance data and energy balance modelling using thermal imagery to estimate crop water use and stress.
The aroma of wine grapes is influenced by a complex metabolic network, with terroir factors, especially high temperatures, playing a critical role during berry development.
Understanding the water-use responses of grapevines to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations is mandatory when assessing the impact of climate change on viticulture as it is a critical part of the adaptation process.