Grapevine Facing Climate Change: From Land, through Plants to Grapes and Wine

Dear Colleagues,

The viticultural sector, comprising table grapes, juices and wine production, constitutes a major socio-economic sector at the global level. Vines are cultivated throughout agricultural lands, and in renowned wine-growing areas give place to peculiar and unique grapes and wines due to their very specific terroirs. The environmental context has a major impact on production, crop quality and processing and, at the microclimate scale, can be influenced by cultural practices. Global climate change continues to threaten crop production and may lead to significant alterations in the environmental suitability and cultivation conditions of extended viticultural areas worldwide. Meteorological conditions, such as those that prevailed in 2022, with an unprecedented frequency of drought and heat stresses being recorded in many regions, are among the most threatening factors for grape production and have a central impact on the quality of grapes and their composition, which impacts berry processing and winemaking. Undoubtedly, climate change will continue having a large impact on viticulture as well as on grape processing and the different stages of winemaking. It is therefore important to develop our knowledge concerning grapevine responses, resilience and adaption to climate, from molecular through to genetic and physiological functions to agronomic and cultural practices, to better cope and mitigate the adverse effects on grapevine performances and management and to optimise and adapt the vinification process, including yeast choice or establishing new winemaking processes in order to reach the standard typicity or to create a new product. This topic is dedicated to new ideas and original works that deal with the effects of climate change conditions on vine genetics, development and production; on berry composition and transformation processes; and on agricultural practices and land suitability evaluation, to face, adapt and mitigate the ongoing changes in climate.

Dr. Othmane Merah
Dr. Ana Fernandes De Oliveira
Dr. Daniela Satta
Dr. Mario Cunha
Dr. Jesus Yuste
Dr. Jalloul Bouajila
Topic Editors