The Genetic Envelope of Winegrape Vines: Potential for Adaptation to Future Climate Challenges

Adaptation of the winegrape industry to a warmer and water restrained future is perhaps more urgent and critical than for most of the alternative agricultural land use practices. Winegrape vines (Vitis vinifera L.) are traditionally grown in unique ‘terroirs’ of which climate is a critical component, the characteristics of wine being directly linked to the climate of the region. A changing climate, therefore, will likely affect the both the style and quality of wine produced at a given site. Furthermore, winegrapes have an expected productive life of more than thirty years so selection of planting material today already requires consideration of the future climate. Exploiting the genetic diversity of the Vitis species through substitution of better suited V. vinifera varieties and clones can be the first step to reducing the impacts of a warmer climate. Planting longer season varieties so that ripening is achieved at a desirable part of the season is fundamental practice to all grape‐growing enterprises. Similarly rootstock selection to suit current and future environmental conditions can enhance resilience to a potential water restrained future. Breeding among the V. vinifera varieties, or outcrossing with other Vitis species can be undertaken to produce better adapted progeny, as in some regions and/or further into the future, selection from the existing varietal stock may not be adequate to fully avoid the negative impacts of climate change. This may be the case, for example, in attempting to source well suited vines for regions already considered to be warmer or hot. As well as using conventional breeding, genetic modification and marker assisted breeding can be employed to produce better adapted grapevines, these techniques being no doubt facilitated by the recently completed sequencing of the grapevine genome. No matter which strategy is used, adaptation of the vine to increased heat stress and drought stress will be the main focus for researchers and winegrape growers interested in avoiding the impacts of the projected warmer and drier climate. It remains to be seen how increasing CO 2 will interact with these other climatic factors on grapevine physiology. More research is required on this topic for this crop.