German title: Nachhaltige Gärung für verbesserten Weinbau im Klimawandel (VINO-KLIM)

German viticulture thrives on diversity. Small and medium-sized wineries in particular shape the wine landscape, but many of them are increasingly under pressure. Rising economic burdens, new legal regulations, and the impacts of climate change are creating major challenges. Smaller wineries often lack the financial and technological resources to cope with these developments.

A central issue is fermentation security. If fermentation comes to a halt — a so-called “stuck fermentation” — significant economic damage can occur: wines lose quality, sparkling wines may not be marketed. The main causes are nutrient deficiencies, especially a lack of nitrogen, as well as changes in grape composition due to climate change. Traditional, well-established production methods are reaching their limits.

To reduce these risks, two main approaches are being pursued:

• Nutrient supplementation within the framework of legal regulations, to prevent fermentation problems.
• Use of more robust yeast strains, which perform reliably even under difficult conditions.

However, these solutions can only be applied effectively with precise analytics of must and wine composition. This is exactly where smaller wineries often face obstacles, as external laboratory analyses are both time-consuming and costly.

The planned project aims to close this gap. It will systematically examine how changing climatic conditions affect grapes, must, and fermentation processes. At the same time, it will test which yeast strains are suitable for sustainable and reliable production. The results are intended to be transferred directly into practice, helping small and medium-sized wineries make their production more future-proof.

In the long term, this initiative will help conserve resources, reduce economic risks, and strengthen the competitiveness of smaller producers. Beyond that, it will secure the survival of many wineries and preserve the diversity and cultural identity of German viticulture.