Within the EU, changes in policy and public sentiment have made it more urgent to consider the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices. Consequently, one of the EU’s goals is to reduce pesticide use by 50 per cent by 2030, including in viticulture. One of the proposed approaches is to expand the use of disease resistant hybrid grape‐cultivars (DRHGC), such as ‘PIWI’ grapes (German, Pilzwiderstandsfähige Rebsorten ), and to introduce new DRHGCs. However, the characteristics of DRHGCs are different from those of Vitis vinifera , which makes it necessary to take measures and make changes in winemaking technology to maintain high wine quality. This paper examines the chemistry of wines made from DRHGC and discusses their impact on aroma and flavor profiles. It also reviews the main winemaking practices suggested to produce high‐quality wines from DRHGCs. The chemistry of DRHGCs is different to wine produced from V. vinifera , which can lead to both challenges during winemaking and unusual flavor profiles. Although newer DRHGCs have been bred to avoid unexpected flavors, many DRHGCs are still rich in proteins and polysaccharides. This can make tannin extraction difficult and produce wines with little astringency. In addition to this, new or alternative winemaking techniques such as thermovinification and the use of alternative yeast strains (non‐ Saccharomyces ) can be used to produce wines from DRHGCs that are acceptable to consumers.

Soil microbiota, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), are critical for plant nutrition in non-agricultural ecosystems. A new study by Edlinger et al. shows that agricultural soils are negatively impacted by fungicide use and generally have lower AMF diversity and abundance.

Vitis vinifera L. ‘Gewürztraminer’ produces distinctive, aromatic wines that are strongly influenced by their terroir. This metabolomic study used a data-driven approach, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Multifactorial Analysis (MFA), to correlate a quali-quantitative multivariate concept of terroir (including soil characteristics, and altitude) with sensory, phenolic, antioxidant, and volatile profiles of wines. The study analyzed wines from seven ‘Gewürztraminer’ vineyards, chosen to minimize the variability due to climate differences. Based on the soil data, the vineyards were clustered into two distinct groups: clay silicate (Group A) and dolomitic (Group B) soils. Group A exhibited lower levels of aromatic compounds such as linalool and higher levels of phenolic compounds such as gallocatechin than Group B. These findings indicate that even small changes in terroir within the same region can significantly impact the chemical, functional (antioxidant), and sensory properties of ‘Gewürztraminer’ wines, highlighting the importance of terroir in wine production. Statistical analyses confirmed the significance of these correlations (p < 0.05), highlighting the need for further research into the intricate relationship between terroir and wine quality.

This study compared white wines from disease-resistant hybrid grape cultivars (DRHGCs) and Vitis vinifera L. cultivars in South Tyrol, Italy. Commercial wines from local wineries, including conventional cultivars (‘Pinot blanc’, ‘Pinot gris’, ‘Chardonnay’, ‘Gewürztraminer’, ‘Kerner’, and white blends) and DRHGCs (‘Souvignier gris’, ‘Bronner’, ‘Johanniter’, ‘Solaris’, ‘Muscaris’, and white blends) were studied. Metabolomic methods (liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, LC-MS, and two-dimensional gas chromatography with mass spectrometry, GC × GC-MS) were combined with sensory analysis by semi-trained panellists (modified rate-all-that-applies, mRATA, and projective mapping, Napping). The data were subsequently analysed using multiple factor analysis (MFA) and analysis of coinertia. Based on the MFA, neither chemical nor sensory analysis could distinguish satisfactorily between DRHGC and V. vinifera wines, suggesting that the two types of wine are not as distinctive as previously thought. However, some significant differences were noted between a small number of specific variables for DRHGC and V. vinifera wines, such as the sensory characters olfactory ‘honey’ and olfactory ‘pineapple’, as well as in the volatile compounds 1-hexanol and limonene. Several compounds that are suggested to have antimicrobial, antifungal, and/or antiviral properties in the literature were found at significantly higher levels in the studied DRHGC wines than in the studied V. vinifera wines and therefore might be relevant to the disease tolerance of these cultivars. The analysis of coinertia showed strong relationships between sensory and chemical properties. These results suggest that the primary barrier to commercial adoption of white DRHGCs for wine production may be consumer and producer unfamiliarity rather than wine quality or the presence of unfamiliar sensory properties.