Climate change and sparkling wine: uncovering mountains potential

Viticulture in mountainous areas is characterized by significant challenges, such as cultivating steeply sloped terrain requiring the use of agricultural terraces essential for leveling the ground, limited mechanization, constant soil maintenance to prevent erosion and landslides (Tarolli et al., 2023). Moreover, until recent times, mountainous areas were considered disadvantaged for grape cultivation due to environmental limitations such as late frosts, frequent storms, and steep slopes. However, in the current context of climate change, it is being explored whether mountains could represent an adaptation solution for viticulture. Indeed, predictions indicate an increase in thermal stress and drought during the vine growing season, negatively impacting grape and wine quality. Some of the main observed trends can be described as earlier phenology, increased sugar content, and higher alcohol content in wine, loss of aroma precursors in berries due to earlier ripening (van Leeuwen and Destrac-Irvine, 2017), and the expansion of areas suitable for wine production (Vigl et al., 2018). Several studies (Falcão et al., 2010), (Caffarra and Eccel, 2011) demonstrate how, due to increasing temperatures linked to global climate change, new opportunities arise for wine grape cultivation in previously unsuitable areas, especially in mountainous regions, where higher altitude and cooler temperatures lead to later phenology and longer duration of phenological events, resulting in phenomena such as delayed sugar accumulation in grapes. Another crucial aspect pertains to the potential role of viticulture in disadvantaged regions, particularly mountainous areas facing depopulation and abandonment of agricultural lands. The cultivation of grapes has the potential to stimulate socio-economic progress in these regions by promoting wine production and supporting related agricultural activities like wine tourism. It represents a valuable local agricultural asset ripe for destination investment. Such investment can take the form of dedicated wine tourism initiatives or be integrated with several typologies of rural tourism. (Tomay and Tuboly, 2023) Based on the literary evidence and the importance of mountain viticulture in specific regions, this study aims to assess the territorial potential of the Umbria region, located in central Italy, for establishing vineyards in hilly and mountainous areas, primarily focusing on the production of sparkling wines. The adaptability of individual municipalities is evaluated through a composite index that considers various socio-economic variables related to the resident population, variables concerning the agricultural and tourist sectors, as well as climatic-territorial variables.