Editorial: Microorganisms for a sustainable viticulture and winemaking

Abstract

During the last decades, wine production in most countries is based on the use of commercial yeast and lactic acid bacteria strains leading to the colonization of the wineries and vineyards by these strains, and in the increasing use of chemical pesticides to control plant diseases or pests management. This signifies the consequent reduction of autochthonous microbial biodiversity. This signifies that wine styles could also become standardized, severely reducing the competitiveness of wines traditionally produced in the EU vs. the new wines elaborated in the emerging vine-growing areas. Moreover, the current climatic change, increasing of population, migrationmovements and economic changes need new strategies for viticulture and winemaking to ensure an economically or environmentally sustainable and healthy chain of production. Diversity and natural ecosystems could serve winemaking in many different ways, not all of which are well known. Thus, in this context increasing attention is being paid to species isolated from local vines or pristine environments and to their potential for stabilizing yields and reducing losses caused by plant diseases, pests and abiotic stresses and for safety and a better control of the fermentation processes using locally selected yeasts.