Viticulture in Oltenia Region (Romania) in the New Climatic Context

Abstract

As climate is one of the determining factors for grape production and quality, the viticultural potential of a region is greatly affected by climate changes, particularly temperature increase. Oltenia is one of the traditional Romanian winegrowing regions that is presently undergoing a progressive warming trend, which may require adaptation measures in the near future. The analysis is based on monthly values of temperature (mean, maximum and minimum), precipitation amount and sunshine duration from 10 meteorological stations located within the study area. The data cover the period 1961–2021, the modifications of the main climatic parameters and specific bioclimatic indices being analysed for the entire period and on two distinct sub-periods (1961–1990 and 1991–2021). The obtained results reveal an increase of the heliothermal resources in the region and a certain stability of the precipitation amounts during the last three decades. Thus, both Winkler and Huglin indices emphasize a northward shift of the area corresponding to quality red wines (about 60 km), which means also a shift of the quality white wines in areas considered without great potential so far. Trends detected in the climatic parameters and bioclimatic indices emphasize potential problems for viticulture in Oltenia, mainly in its southern and southwestern part, where climate suitability for quality wines is under pressure on the background of increasing temperature and reduced precipitation amounts during the growing season.