VIA Seminar led by Prof. Attilio Scienza. The forest and the vineyard, a new alliance

Over millennia, vines have co-evolved alongside their habitat, adapting specifically to local ecosystems, climate, and surrounding flora. As a light-loving species, vines evolved to climb trees to reach the sunlight. Vitis vinifera itself originated from wild, woody lianas that grew along riverbanks in deciduous forests. For thousands of years, the cultivation of grapevines has been intertwined with human civilization, with early viticultural techniques, such as the “married vine” (training vines up trees), mimicking their natural growth habitats. Now, thanks to recent developments in molecular biology, we are beginning to fully understand the remarkable relationship between the forest and the vineyard.

In this Vinitaly International Academy seminar, Professor Attilio Scienza reveals the true nature of that relationship, how plants communicate with each other, and how harnessing that knowledge can provide the solution to some of the major challenges, such as climate change and the threat of cryptogamic disease, currently facing the wine sector.