A dutiful journey undertaken to respond to climate change and continued together with CREA-VE , the Council for Agricultural Research and the Analysis of the Agricultural Economy - Viticulture and Enology Research Center of Asti , the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Piacenza , the Institute of G. Penna Higher Secondary Education and ten local farms to give life to the AGEBA project, of which the Consortium is the leader. A virtuous initiative aimed at recovering and enhancing the ancient germplasm of the Barbera vine for its adaptation to the ongoing climate changes which are also affecting the world of wine.
"In the Asti area, the absence of rainfall, increasingly higher average temperatures are a real and tangible problem. This year's harvest was one of the driest in recent centuries" - declares the President of the Consortium, Filippo Mobrici - "For these reasons, the Consortium wanted to take the issue of viticulture of the future into their own hands and, together with research institutes, seek answers in the genome of the most resistant ancient vines.In fact, it is probable that these vines, having survived with resilience and adaptation to the challenges of the past, will be more easily able to meet future challenges."
The AGEBA project, therefore, has a genetic approach aimed at identifying genotypes with characteristics of greater adaptability to climate change. These characteristics are to be found in the single strains of Barbera, planted in the period of clonal pre-selection (until the 70s of the last century) as these strains have shown to be incredibly adaptive and resistant to biotic and abiotic agents. Having survived for several decades, in fact, these plants are also free from the main viruses and from Flavescence Dorata, a scourge that still affects Barbera today.
The Consortium, therefore, is acting as an authentic point of contact between nature and business and today, one of the main challenges it has to face is precisely the threat that climate change on a global scale poses for the Monferrato of wine under the point of environmental, social and economic view.
President Mobrici continues "The AGEBA project is certainly a very ambitious project. We are still in the preliminary stage and as always, when we speak of experimental research, we cannot be certain of a positive outcome. However, the assumptions bode well and the Consortium will continue to commit itself and give its contribution, facing present and future challenges with optimism."
THE BARBERA D'ASTI CONSORTIUM AND MONFERRATO WINES
The Consorzio Barbera d'Asti e Vini del Monferrato, founded in 1946, has the task of protecting and promoting its denominations to guarantee their diffusion and their image on national and international markets, also through specific distinctive brands. Currently the Consortium has 390 member companies and 13 protected denominations.
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