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Georgia is an important source of grapevine intra-specific variability for viticulture. This biodiversity can be a suitable tool to face the challenge of climate change. Nevertheless, it is important to take into account the interaction between the interest genotype and the local environment, whose climate is changing due to global heating. In this work, we put in relation the phenotypic behavior of some neglected Georgian cultivars (‘Tabidziseuli’, ‘Daisi’, ‘Qvelouri’, ‘Bazaleturi Colikouri’) from the Mtskheta-Mtianeti Georgian region to the agro-climatology of the region itself. The phenological phases and the vegetation length of these four grape varieties were described, as well as their principal ampelographic characters. The impact of global heating on the agro-climatology of the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region has also been established, by comparing the sum of active temperatures (>10°C) of multi-years (1948-2017) with those calculated for the future scenario (2020-2050, temperature increase by 2°C). Based on this comparison, three agro-climatic zones have been confirmed within the region: dry subtropical, mountain and high mountain. The scenario of temperature increase by 2°C in the next three decades will cause the sum of active temperatures to reach 3900-4000°C in the dry subtropical zone, 3400-3500°C in the mountain zone and 1900-2000°C in the high mountain zone. Considering the vegetation length of the cultivars analyzed, it can be expected a shift of the most suitable sites for viticulture from the dry subtropical zone to the mountain area. High mountain seems not to be suitable for the cultivation of the studied cultivars. Given this environmental variability within the region, the increase in temperature will not suppress viticulture in Mtskheta-Mtianeti, if the real temperature does not exceed the level predicted by scenario., VITIS - Journal of Grapevine Research, Vol. 62 No. 2 (2023): Vitis

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is one of the most widely cultivated plant species of agricultural interest, and is extensively appreciated for its fruits and the wines made from its fruits. Considering the high socio-economic impact of the wine sector all over the world, in recent years, there has been an increase in work aiming to investigate the biodiversity of grapevine germplasm available for breeding programs. Various studies have shed light on the genetic diversity characterizing the germplasm from the cradle of V. vinifera domestication in Georgia (South Caucasus). Georgian germplasm is placed in a distinct cluster from the European one and possesses a rich diversity for many different traits, including eno-carpological and phenological traits; resistance to pathogens, such as oomycetes and phytoplasmas; resistance to abiotic stresses, such as sunburn. The aim of this review is to assess the potential of Georgian cultivars as a source of useful traits for breeding programs. The unique genetic and phenotypic aspects of Georgian germplasm were unraveled, to better understand the diversity and quality of the genetic resources available to viticulturists, as valuable resources for the coming climate change scenario.

Wine has been produced in Georgia since the 6th millennium BC. The processes of cultivar selection and breeding started with wild grapes Vitis vinifera L. ssp. sylvestris Gmel. and included multiple introgression events—from the wild to domestication. This article aims at improving the knowledge concerning the history of winemaking through a comparison of the Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris and subsp. sativa. Grapes of Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris were grown in an ampelographic collection and vintages 2017–2020 were analyzed. The obtained data were compared to a wider dataset available in literature concerning Vitis vinifera subsp. sativa, demonstrating the central role of grape morphology in the domestication process. This evidence suggests that the technological value of the cultivars played an important role in the selection process. In vintages 2017, 2018, and 2019, wines were produced with Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris grapes and compared with Cabernet Sauvignon and Saperavi vinifications. For all the vintages, the fermentations took shorter time for wild grape, despite the highest content of total phenols. Learning from the past, Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris might still be an interesting genetic resource for future breeding programs. Furthermore, the possible combination of wild and domesticated grapes can make possible the production of wines with long ageing, exalting their own characteristics.

National audience

Special Issue, VITIS - Journal of Grapevine Research, Vol. 51 (2012): Vitis (Special Issue)

Trabajo presentado en la Final Conference Progress in Vitis Vinifera diversity evaluation and use, celebrada en Lisboa del 7 al 9 de octubre de 2014.-- Rustioni, Laura et al., Cost action FA1003 - GRAPENET. East-West Collaboration for Grapevine Diversity Exploration and Mobilization of Adaptive Traits for Breeding., Common limits for phenotyping are costs in terms of equipment, specialized researchers, and time. Moreover, phenotyping requires specific methods in relation to the studied traits, and each method is generally designed to highlight very specific characteristics of the singular trait. Thus, the obtained results are not easily comparable between different institutions. However the data sharing is clearly the most powerful approach to limit the costs and efforts optimizing the obtained results in term of number of studied accessions. It should be stressed that funds are another great limit in research, especially in East countries, where the most interesting cultivar variability is preserved.

Rustioni, L. et al., A standard protocol for phenotyping structural and compositional aspects of the grape berry has been adopted by 18 East and West European germplasm collections during one season by testing a total of 469 accessions, including reference cultivars as well as local and minor germplasm accessions of specific interest. The protocol consists in the collection of triplicates for 26 phenotypic traits, from biological samples, each formed by 10 berries collected from 9 representative bunches from every analyzed accessions. The protocol concatenates the data from measurements and acquisitions, with the objective to generate new derived variables, which are expressed with different units (%; content per kg of grapes, per berry, per g of tissue). For each variable, the Least Significant Differences (LSD), to contrast a pair of single accession mean values, and the Confidence Intervals (CI), to estimate each single accession mean value, were computed. The application of the protocol revealed satisfactory results with high accuracy and efficiency in estimation of phenotypic traits of each accession. The whole data set will be useful for researchers, breeders and viticulturists in yield evaluation of grapevine cultivars, as well as in comparative analyses of environment-variety interaction., Joint publication of the COST Action FA1003 “East-West Collaboration for Grapevine Diversity Exploration and Mobilization of Adaptive Traits for Breeding”.