Mediterranean viticulture in the context of climate change

Abstract

The exposure of viticulture to climate change and extreme weather conditions makes the winemaking sector particularly vulnerable, being one of its major challenges in the current century. While grapevine is considered a highly tolerant crop to several abiotic stresses, Mediterranean areas are frequently affected by adverse environmental factors, namely water scarcity, heat and high irradiance, and are especially vulnerable to climate change. Due to the high socio-economic value of this sector in Europe, the study of adaptation strategies to mitigate the negative climate change impacts are of main importance for its sustainability and competitiveness. Adaptation strategies include all the set of actions and processes that can be performed in response to climate change. It is crucial to improve agronomic strategies to offset the loss of productivity and likely changes in production and fruit quality. It is important to look for new insights concerning response mechanisms to these stresses to advance with more effective and precise measures. These measures should be adjusted to local terroirs and regional climate change projections for the sustainable development of the winemaking sector. This review describes the direct climate change impacts (on phenology, physiology, yield and berry quality), risks, and uncertainties for Mediterranean viticulture, as well as a set of canopy, soil and water management practices that winegrowers can use to adapt their vines to warmer and drier conditions.

Bio-Dealcoholization of Wines: Can Yeast Make Lighter Wines?

“…This results in grapes ripening faster than expected and accumulating sugars at an accelerated rate, owing to the increased speed of the metabolic processes involved in grape maturation [16,19,36,37]. Higher temperatures lead to higher evapotranspiration rates, exacerbating the impact on grape maturation [2,35,38].…”

“…Climate change, primarily driven by anthropogenic influence, induces significant transformations in the Earth's system [1,2], including temperature extremes and modifications in precipitation patterns [3,4]. The latest Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) [5] predicts a continued rise in global surface temperature and a decrease in annual precipitation across emission scenarios, with intensifying and more frequent extreme events globally [4,6].…”

“…France, Italy, and Spain, the top wine-producing countries (Table 1), contribute significantly to the global wine sector [13]. In 2022, wine exports from these three European countries amounted to around EUR 23 billion, emphasizing the economic importance of viticulture in Europe and globally, highlighting wine grapes as one of the most valuable fruit crops worldwide [2,14,15]. Additionally, global wine production in 2022 reached 258 million hectoliters, slightly lower than the previous year's output of 261 million hectoliters.…”

“…Increasing temperatures lead to premature grape ripening, culminating in an undesirable rise in sugar levels and a decrease in organic acids and phenolic compounds. This results in higher alcohol content, reduced acidity, and modified sensory profiles [18][19][20], ultimately altering wine quality and typicity [2,21,22]. Given the potential compromise of crop yields and viticulture productivity under future climatic conditions, the urgent adoption of cultivation approaches and strategies is crucial to mitigate the effects of climate change on wine production and quality.…”

Intercropping Perennial Fruit Trees and Annual Field Crops with Aromatic and Medicinal Plants (MAPs) in the Mediterranean Basin

“…Hence, there is an urgent requisite to increase food crop resilience to climate change impacts, to shrink the agricultural carbon footprint of unsustainable management practices and to enhance soil and biodiversity conservation whilst guaranteeing crop yield, weed and pest/pathogen control. In response, various adaption strategies, including the selection of more resilient plant material, have been extensively covered in recent reviews and meta-analyses for perennial fruit and nut crops [13,16,17,[25][26][27], including grapes [16,[28][29][30][31], and for annual field crops [21,24,32].…”