As European winegrowers increasingly recognize the urgency of harmonizing sustainability practices with economic viability and grape quality, New Zealand vineyards stand out as role models, demonstrating their long-standing commitment to sustainability.
At the intersection of environmental and agricultural sciences, we will establish two pilots, one in La Rioja Alavesa (Spain) and another in Marlborough (New Zealand), to empirically test the correlation between different land management practices and soil moisture, grapevine water uptake, and water use efficiency of grapevines using isotope geochemistry.
EU wine stakeholders will participate in defining adaptive management measures resulting from the pilots, thereby delivering tangible solutions aligned with the sector. These efforts align with the European Green Deal and the Common Agricultural Policy, supporting many strategies and two EU Missions of the Member States.
IsWINE is hosted by three highly qualified institutions. There will be a first outgoing phase of two years that will take place at the University of Auckland, a return phase of one year at the Neiker Technology Center, and a secondment of three months that will take place at the University of Barcelona.
This project is funded by the Horizon Europe program through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions