News2022-12-10T10:32:05+01:00

The "Voltis" grape variety has been approved for the production of Champagne AOC.

L'Institut National de l'Origine et de la Qualité (Inao) confirmed the application for approval of the resistant grape variety Volits for the production of Champagne AOC. This new breed is the first resistant grape variety to be included in a French appellation.
“Voltis is one of the answers to the important question of coexistence between residents and producers. Above all, it is about developing practices and consumption in the spirit of sustainability,” explains Maxime Toubart, co-president of the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (Civc) and president of the Syndicat Général des Vignerons (SGV).
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February 21, 2022|

Shaping sustainable change in the wine industry – 64th International DWV Congress in April

“We would like to discuss in detail the aspects and measures for sustainable production and marketing in viticulture with the industry. The topic is very topical for our sector - not only the effects of climate change and the resulting extreme weather such as heavy rain, periods of drought or late frosts, but also the demand for a reduction in pesticides or dwindling resources draw the focus to the topic of sustainability. Current discussions in politics and society about the promotion of organic production or changes in marketing also require us to deal with this topic of change and sustainability. Of course, in addition to the ecological aspects, the economic and social aspects must not be forgotten!” says DWV Secretary General Christian Schwörer.

The congress will be held digitally from April 11th to 13th.

Registrations are expected to be available from March on the congress homepage at www.dwv-kongress.de possible.

Excerpt from the program on 04/11/22

Cultivation acceptance: Breeding from a German perspective
Prof. Dr. Reinhard Toepfer, Julius Kühn Institute

Wine profiles from PiWi grape varieties - experiences from the perspective of an international winery
Ing. Roelof J. Visscher, Neerlandswijnmakerij, Bentelo, Netherlands

Consumer acceptance of PIWI grape varieties
Prof. Dr. Gergely Szolnoki, Hochschule Geisenim University

Zero Infinito - sustainability from the vineyard to the bottle - an international success
Mario Pojer, Faedo (TN), Italy

February 21, 2022|

Macromolecular characterization of disease resistant red wine varieties (PIWI)

AIM: Fungal Resistant (PIWI) are disease resistant Vitis vinifera interspecific hybrid varieties that are receiving increasing attention for ability to ripen in cool climates and their resistance to grapevine fungal diseases. Wines produced from these varieties have not been characterized, especially regarding their macromolecular composition. This study characterized and quantified colloid-forming molecules (proteins, polysaccharides and phenolics) of red PIWI wines produced in the UK.
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February 19, 2022|

ON AN ODYSSEY WITH SOLARIS – PIWI wines in Sweden

 

Exciting things are happening in my new home region. For example, I was recently invited to the Kullaberg winery. Led by Mikael Mölstad, I and some interested guests got a walk through the Solaris grape.

Solaris is a green Vitis vinifera and can be called a hybrid due to its multiple parents. The genus includes the ancient grape Saperavi - which we can find in Georgia, among other places. As well as Merzeling, GM 6493 and Muscat Ottonel. It is a so-called PiWI grape. More information on the German name PIWI or "mushrooms grape varieties" you'll find here . The PIWI grapes in general and Solaris in particular are hardy, but also have characteristics such as high resistance to fungal attack, making them suitable for the slightly cooler and wetter climate of our country.
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February 16, 2022|

69th Winter Conference of the Austrian Ecosocial Forum – Wine Industry Conference on February 2nd, 2022

The 69th Winter Conference of the Ecosocial Forum will take place from January 27th to February 3rd, 2022. With this year's general theme "Future thanks to origin? In the field of tension between global markets and regional supply”, a broad field of discussion opens up.

The specialist day of the wine industry will take place on February 2nd, 2022. In addition to a live webinar on the subject of "Location classification - the importance of origin for the wine industry", the media library contains numerous contributions on the two subject blocks "Resources in the wine industry - which challenges must be mastered regionally?" and "The future of viticulture? - Piwi wines in practice check" available for flexible viewing.

read more and register

more information below oekosozial.at

January 28, 2022|

PIWI – an idea whose time has come?

Hybrid grapes used to be treated with disdain by the wine industry. Now German enthusiasm for new varieties of resistant varieties European moves against chemical treatments are helping to support their cause

PIWI wines now have their own competition

PIWI wines now have their own competition

Outside Germany, the acronym PIWI – short for Pilzwiderstandsfähig: German for ‘fungal-resistant’ is not very widely known. Effectively describing what used to be known as hybrids, it describes crossings between Vitis vinifera and other strains of Vitis that have been specifically developed – mostly in Germany and Switzerland – to need fewer treatments and potentially provide higher and more reliable yields.

Quelle: Meiningers Wine Business

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January 28, 2022|

WHAT'S IN THE WINE?

... or the mystery of fermentation

Source: Swiss Magazine for Fruit and Viticulture (SZOW)

Alcoholic fermentation has been known to man for thousands of years. But what lies behind it has only been sufficiently understood in the last two centuries. Andreas Kranz, author of the book "Craft Wine self-made: The big book of fruit wine production", shows what happens during fermentation and why it makes sense for yeast to poison themselves with alcohol.

In scientific nomenclature, baker's yeast, which pleases us with alcoholic fermentation and ensures that bread becomes fluffy, is called Saccharomyces cerevisiae designated. "Saccharomyces" comes from the Greek and literally means "sugar mushroom", "cerevisiae" is Latin and means "of beer". Systematically, it belongs to the Ascomycetes (sac fungi) and, together with the Basidiomycetes (pillar fungi: mushrooms and the like), is one of the higher fungi. Fungi are neither animals nor plants, yet they share characteristics of both. Like plants, they have a cell wall that differs significantly in its structure from the cell wall of plants. Like animals, they cannot photosynthesize, so they are unable to use sunlight as an energy source. But their cells have all the essential components of animal and plant cells: a real cell nucleus and various organelles. Thus, fungi, plant and animal cells belong to the so-called eukaryotes, on the other hand there are the simpler bacteria, also called prokaryotes. The processes within yeast cells are often similar to those of other eukaryotic cells in such a way that baker's yeast, which is easy to cultivate, has established itself as a model organism for so-called "higher cells". Ultimately, knowledge about the function of our cells goes back to research on yeasts.

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January 28, 2022|

EU grants member states the right to use resistant hybrid varieties in appellation wines

D
The decision is part of a wider revision of previous regulations that established common quality schemes, market organisations, definitions, descriptions, presentation and labeling for European agricultural and food products.
Following a recent change in EU rules, member states are now allowed to use resistant varieties in the production of protected designations of origin (PDO) wines.

The decision, published last week in the Official Journal of the European Union, is part of a wider overhaul of previous regulations that laid down common quality schemes, market organisations, definitions, descriptions, presentation and labeling for European agricultural and food products.

Previously, only grape varieties of the species Vitis vinifera could be used for PDO wines produced in the EU, while grape varieties showing genetic traces of non-Vinifera species, such as fungus-resistant PIWI varieties, were excluded.
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January 21, 2022|

Diversity buffers winegrowing regions from climate change losses

Significance

Increasing diversity within crops may be a powerful way to reduce agricultural declines from climate change. As such, it has garnered increasing attention, especially in documenting within-crop diversity through different cultivars or wild relatives. Yet, there are few tests of whether this diversity can mitigate losses with warming. Here, using European (predominantly French) databases to forecast winegrape phenology, we test if shifting cultivars changes predictions of future growing regions. We find that cultivar diversity halved potential losses of winegrowing regions under a 2 °C warming scenario and could reduce losses by a third if warming reaches 4 °C. Thus, diversity—if adopted by growers locally—can mitigate agricultural losses, but its effectiveness will depend on global decisions regarding future emissions.

https://www.pnas.org/content/117/6/2864

January 18, 2022|

A look into the past...

100 years of viticulture in the southwest

Vines, wine and winegrowers shape the culture and landscape in the south-west. Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg are the home countries of German wine. In the consciousness of the people this is a significant factor. For the first time, a 90-minute television documentary reflects this comprehensively - with pictures and archive recordings, some of which are almost 100 years old. the SWR documentary also shows the once hard manual work of the winegrowers and the development of viticulture to this day.

https://www.swrfernsehen.de/doku-reportage/100-jahre-weinbau-im-suedwesten-100.html

January 18, 2022|

SITEVI 2021: Under the sign of climate change and sustainability

SITEVI, the largest wine and fruit growing fair in the world, in Montpellier (F). Thousands of visitors insisted on traveling to the south of France despite the threat of corona. The international industry was excited about groundbreaking and innovative highlights. However, they were rather few and far between.

SITEVI AWARDS

Of the total of 35 nominated products and services, eight were awarded a bronze medal, six a silver and two a gold medal. They served roughly two categories: Either it was innovative further developments or inventions on the one hand, and digital applications, problem solutions or optimizations on the other.
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The first category included, for example, one made from tulip petals and therefore ecologically sustainable wine label paper (www.lithobru.com), a fully automatic nutcracker machine (www.groupe-fidi.com) or, in a broader sense, the new Kissabel apple brand, the pulp of which is red-colored, which takes some getting used to (www.dalival.com). The second category includes various software and hardware developments. Significantly, the two gold winners also belonged to this distinction (see red box below).
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SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF SITEVI 2021

Amphora from the 3D printer
….

It also works without CO2
The Dutch-British agricultural machinery manufacturer "New Holland" (to which the Fiat group also belongs) presented a pioneering drive technology in viticulture with its new TK4 Methane Power crawler tractor

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January 13, 2022|

1. PIWI wine evaluation as part of the FEM San Michele

Today at FEM scientific focus and awards for winegrowers: 18 prizes and 13 honorable mentions

Thursday, December 02, 2021

PRESS RELEASE

Today in the Fondazione Mach the scientific seminar and the award ceremony of the first national evaluation of wines from varieties resistant to fungal diseases took place.
The event took place in the presence of about a hundred participants, including the wineries taking part in the competition and representatives of the national and local wine world, as well as via live streaming with about 150 spectators, including three classes from FEM.
The event was opened by FEM President Mirco Maria Franco Cattani, Provincial Councilor for Agriculture Giulia Zanotelli, President of the Consortium for Innovation in Viticulture Enrico Giovannini and President of PIWI International Alexander Morandel.
Under the moderation of Professor Mario Pezzotti, Director of the Research and Innovation Center, three renowned experts spoke: Professor Luigi Moio, President of the International Organization for Vine and Wine, Attilio Scienza, Professor at the University of Milan, and Fulvio Mattivi, Professor at the University of Trento. Finally, the competition dates with the awarding of the 18 prizes and 13 awards to the winning wineries were explained. Afterwards there was a tasting of the participating wines.

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December 18, 2021|
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