Assessing Impacts of Climate Change on Phenology and Quality Traits of Vitis vinifera L.: The Contribution of Local Knowledge

Abstract

Developing adaptation strategies in Vitis vinifera, a crop sensitive to climate change, is crucial for resilience of traditional viticultural systems, especially in climate-vulnerable areas like the Mediterranean basin. A progressive warming is demonstrated to alter the geographical distribution of grapevine, reducing land capability for typical grapes and vine productions in most Southern European districts traditionally specialized in tree crops. Grapevine growth and reproduction under climate change require a continuous monitoring to adapt agronomic practices and strategies to global change. The present study illustrates an empirical approach grounded on a set of bio-physical indicators assessing the genotype-related response to climate variation. This approach was tested in Umbria, central Italy, to verify the response of some major international and local grapevine varieties to climate variation during a relatively long time interval (1995–2015). Long-term data for ripening time and berry quality collected in the study area were correlated to representative bioclimatic indices including Winkler, Huglin, and Cool night indicators. Results of this study highlighted the increase of air temperature (reflecting the inherent growth in thermal availability for maturation) and the alteration of precipitation patterns toward more intense precipitation. Climate variability exerted distinctive impacts on grapevine phenology depending on the related genotype. Empirical findings underline the usefulness of a permanent field monitoring of the relationship between selected climate variables and grape ripening with the aim to develop adaptive viticultural practices at farm’s scale.

Responses on Must and Wine Composition of Vitis vinifera L. cvs. Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon under a Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE)

“…Sangiovese [ 17 , 18 ] and cv. Touriga Franca [ 12 ] under eCO 2 , even though mentioned parameters are well known to be sensitive to changing climate conditions [ 4 , 9 , 56 ]. Only in one year a higher total acidity (+12%) was detected for cv.…”

The Exploitation of Local Vitis vinifera L. Biodiversity as a Valuable Tool to Cope with Climate Change Maintaining Berry Quality

“…The adaption capacity of ancient grapevine varieties to climatic conditions has been suggested as a valuable tool to exploit the grapevine diversity in relation to traits that are impacted by climate change, such as phenology, the accumulation of sugars, organic acids, and phenolic compounds [ 35 , 36 , 37 ]. The hypotheses raised in this study were: (i) the genotypes studied performed differently according to the parameters analyzed; (ii) the distinctive properties of each genotype can evolve differently in the new climate scenario.…”

Grapevine Responses to Heat Stress and Global Warming

“…Viticulture is one of the sectors of agriculture to be affected by climate change and specifically global warming. Climate is the main factor limiting the geographical distribution of grapevines over the world and also a basic element of the so-called “terroir” concept, which is of great significance for the wine industry [ 12 ]. The primary impact of global warming in viticulture is on phenology, i.e., the timing of annually recurrent biological events, as grapevine sensitivity to heat stress is directly related to the phenological stages [ 13 , 14 ].…”