Piedmont Wine: An alliance is born for research, innovation, and the future of Piedmontese viticulture.

An unprecedented alliance marks a new phase for Piedmontese viticulture: protection consortia, research institutions, universities, and trade associations have joined forces to establish the Piedmont Technical Viticulture Committee , a body established by the Agrion Foundation's Statute , which launches a shared path of innovation and development with a clear and ambitious goal: to address the challenges of climate change, promote sustainability, and ensure increasingly resilient and competitive viticulture.

The initiative was born within the INNOAGRI project, an incubator of ideas and listening points for Piedmontese winemaking innovation, financed with EAFRD–CSR 2023/2027 funds from the Piedmont Region (intervention SRG09 – Cooperation for actions to support innovation and services aimed at the agricultural, forestry and agri-food sectors ), of which Vignaioli Piemontesi is the leader.

The first meeting of the Committee took place at the headquarters of Vignaioli Piemontesi in Castagnito, during which the first census of infrastructure and research activities in the winemaking sector in Piedmont was presented.

The picture that emerged shows a region rich in expertise, projects, and potential, but also the need to coordinate existing resources , avoid duplicative projects, and strengthen collaboration among the various stakeholders in the sector. The shared goal is to develop innovative solutions for the genetic improvement of grape varieties, sustainable vineyard management, and efficient winemaking processes.

The meeting, held under the coordination of the Agrion Foundation and the Piedmontese Winemakers, was attended by the main research institutions and representatives of the production sector: University of Turin – DISAFA, CONViVi and Agroinnova, CREA-VE, CNR-IPSP, Polytechnic University of Turin , Piemonte Land of Wine and the protection Consortia , together with the associations Confcooperative, Confagricoltura, Coldiretti, Italian Confederation of Farmers , Unioncamere and Confindustria .

Towards a coordination for winemaking innovation

The meeting also reiterated the importance of coordinating winemaking development and innovation , designed to network skills, structures, and resources, fostering the sharing of projects and strategies, and facilitating access to public and private funding.
Thanks to the synergy between scientific bodies, consortia, and producer associations, the roundtable aims to become the engine of shared innovation , capable of guiding the Piedmontese wine sector towards a more competitive, digital, and sustainable future.

Training, sharing and next steps

Participants agreed on the importance of implementing training programs for winemakers, sharing data and best practices , and monitoring progress in each area of intervention.

A first concrete and necessary step will be the presentation to the Protection Consortia of the research lines active in Piedmont , to gather the innovation needs expressed by winemakers and oenologists and to specifically direct future research and development activities.

This discussion between the various stakeholders in the wine sector will allow the presentation of a joint project proposal to the Piedmont Region , with the aim of attracting new resources for research and development.