With the Vinid'Occ key challenge, the Occitanie region is supporting varietal innovation for the viticulture and oenology of the future in the region. Patrice This, researcher at the Agap Institute laboratory and scientific leader of this project, tells us all about this fundamental international research on vines and wine, from gene to bottle to consumer.

With 265,000 hectares of vines - 34% of all French vines - the Occitan vineyard is the largest in France. This leading position makes the region a stronghold of viticulture and oenology. The region has chosen to support these forward-looking themes through the Vinid'Occ key challenge.

The Key Challenges are an initiative of the Occitanie region, whose aim is to identify and structure the scientific community and local economic players around strategic themes for the region. " These are excellent tools for supporting high-quality academic research of international scope in fields of strategic importance to the region, for encouraging the collective dynamics of research players in Occitanie, but also for developing projects with the private sector, associations and industries, and for making scientific knowledge accessible to as many people as possible", emphasizes Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier.

After Rivoc and BiovidOc, whose aim is to advance regional research to better preserve biodiversity and combat vector-borne diseases, the region is counting on Vinid'Oc to support varietal innovation in Occitanie.

Fewer plant protection products

"The project focuses on two major challenges: reducing the use of plant protection products, and adapting to climate change", explains Patrice This, researcher at the Agap Institut laboratory and project leader. After all, vines are one of the crops that consume the most phytosanitary products, particularly when it comes to combating the most widespread fungal diseases: downy mildew and powdery mildew. "Varietal selection makes it possible to limit the use of fungicide products by selecting disease-resistant varieties. Vitis vinifera, a species that accounts for around 98% of wine production, does not naturally carry genes for resistance to these diseases, so we have to transfer these genes from other vine species to make it resistant in turn," explains Patrice This. Four new varieties resulting from this technology have already been registered in the French variety catalog. " These new varieties can reduce phytosanitary treatments against mildew and powdery mildew by 72% to 90%," emphasizes Patrice This.

Adapting to climate change

Another major challenge for the project is to mitigate the effects of climate change on vine growing. " In the South of France, climate change is already having a major impact on wine production, leading to losses in production volume and a drop in quality", explains the project leader. While drought reduces yields, heat affects the organoleptic qualities of the wine. " It increases alcohol levels and reduces acidity, two parameters whose balance is essential to obtain a quality wine".

And these climatic upheavals are also synonymous with other disturbances: " Significant inter-annual variability, both in terms of temperatures and frost episodes ", emphasizes Patrice This. This is why researchers are now focusing on what they call the vine's plasticity. " This is the vine's ability to modify its functioning in the face of climatic variations, while maintaining sufficient production. The more plastic a vine is, the better it can absorb these variations.

Preparing for the wines of tomorrow

To unearth varieties better adapted to tomorrow's climate in Occitanie, researchers are looking further south, with a particular interest in varieties grown in Greece. "We also want to determine whether these varieties can correspond to the typical characteristics of regional wines, which we will be able to approximate but not reproduce identically.

Faced with these inevitable changes, the Vinid'Occ key challenge will also take a close look at producers and consumers to determine how best to prepare them for the wines of tomorrow. A future that is being prepared today, in a sector where anticipation is essential. "From seed to plant, a selection cycle takes around fifteen years". A long road from laboratory to bottle, which will be achieved by reinforcing links between research and the profession on the one hand, "but also collaborations between the metropolises of the region involved in this project", stresses its initiator.

The Occitanie region is backing these ambitions with a 2 million euro budget allocated to the key challenge over 4 years. " This represents 8 half-thesis grants, 4 emblematic research projects, as many complementary research projects, as well as an equipment envelope that will be used in particular for high-throughput phenotyping", explains Patrice This.