Through the key initiative Vinid’Occ, the Occitanie region is supporting varietal innovation for the future of viticulture and oenology in the region. Patrice This, a researcher at the Agap Institute and the project’s scientific lead, explains this fundamental research—which has international implications—on grapevines and wine, from the gene to the bottle and on to consumers.

With 265,000 hectares of vineyards—representing 34% of France’s total vineyard area—the Occitan wine region is the largest in France. This top ranking makes the region a powerhouse in viticulture and oenology. These are promising areas for the region’s future, and the regional government has chosen to support them through the Vinid’Occ key initiative.

"Key Challenges" is an initiative of the Occitanie region aimed at identifying and organizing the scientific community and local economic stakeholders around strategic themes for the region. “These are excellent tools for supporting high-quality, internationally oriented academic research in fields that are strategic for the region, for fostering collective momentum among research stakeholders in Occitanie, and for developing projects with the private sector, the nonprofit sector, and industry clusters—all while making scientific knowledge accessible to as many people as possible,” emphasizes Philippe Augé, president of the University of Montpellier.

Following Rivoc and BiovidOc, which aim 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 pesticides

“The project focuses on two major challenges: reducing the use of plant protection products and adapting to climate change,” explains Patrice This, a researcher at the Agap Institut laboratory and the project leader. This is because grapevines are among the crops that require the most plant protection products, particularly to combat the most widespread fungal diseases—downy mildew and powdery mildew. “Varietal selection helps limit the use of fungicides by selecting disease-resistant varieties. Vitis vinifera, the species that accounts for about 98% of wine production, does not naturally carry genes for resistance to these diseases; therefore, these genes must be transferred from other grapevine species to make it resistant in turn, ” explains Patrice This. Four new varieties developed using this technology have already been added to the catalog of French grape varieties. “These new varieties make it possible to reduce phytosanitary treatments against downy mildew and powdery mildew by 72% to 90%, ” emphasizes Patrice This.

Adaptation to Climate Change

Another major challenge of the project is to mitigate the effects of climate change on viticulture. “In the South, climate change is already having a significant impact on wine production, leading to losses in production volume and a decline in quality, ” explains the project leader. While drought reduces yields, heat affects the wine’s organoleptic qualities. “It increases alcohol content and reduces acidity—two factors that must be in balance to produce a high-quality wine.”

And these climate shifts also bring about other disruptions:“Significant year-to-year variability, both in terms of temperatures and frost events,”notes Patrice This. That is why researchers are now focusing on what they call the vine’s plasticity. “It’s the vine’s ability to adapt its functioning in response to these climatic variations while maintaining sufficient yields. The more plastic a vine is, the better it will be able to withstand these variations.”

Preparing for the Wines of Tomorrow

To identify varieties better suited to the future climate of Occitanie, researchers are looking further south, focusing in particular on varieties grown in Greece . “We also want to determine whether these varieties can align with the distinctive characteristics of regional wines—which we can approximate but not replicate exactly.”

In the face of these inevitable changes, the Vinid’Occ challenge will also focus closely on producers and consumers to determine how best to prepare them for the wines of tomorrow. A future that is being shaped today in an industry where foresight is essential. “From seed to plant, a selection cycle takes about fifteen years.” It’s a long journey from the laboratory to the bottle, one that will be achieved by strengthening ties—those forged between research and the industry on the one hand, “but also through collaborations among the region’s major cities involved in this project, ” emphasizes the project leader.

The Occitanie region is supporting these ambitions with a budget of 2 million euros allocated to this key challenge over four years. “This represents eight half-doctoral fellowships, four flagship research projects, an equal number of complementary research projects, as well as a budget for equipment that will be used, in particular, for high-throughput phenotyping, ” explains Patrice This.