1. Introduction

The evolving overall wine-growing environment represents three facets of the wine world: production, distribution, and wine consumption [1]. The first element of the wine’s evolving environment is its biological and chemical origins [1]. The evolving geography of winemaking refers to the dynamics of localization and distribution of viticulture and enology practices for the last ten millennia [1,2,3]. Besides the well-known grapevine growing zones, commercial viticulture is currently also found in the tropics, in higher altitude areas such as Hawaii, Mexico, Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru [4]. To produce enough sugars for fermentation to yield alcohol, the genus Vitis L. (grapevine) requires cycles of colder temperatures (and high diurnal temperature fluctuations) for grapes maturation and ripening [1,5]. Today, the wine industry is full of creativity and change, as new grapevine cultivars are created to expand the limits of wine production beyond its known boundaries [1,6]. The diversification (or rediscovery) of autochthonous grown grapevine cultivars and the consequent global acceleration of wine consumption rates have been balancing the increase of worldwide wine production starting in the 1970s [1,7,8]. This growth in the wine industry has also been enabled by globalization, for better or worse [8,9].

The importance and demand of viticulture and wine industry products are given by their place of origin, plant cultivars, design, and taste, which is undoubtedly different than every other agricultural outcome worldwide [10]. The characteristics of the grape harvest and, by consequence, of the wine production are mostly dictated by the features of the climate and soil in which particular grape cultivars are produced [11]. The growing season affects the qualities of the harvested grapes, whereas the fermentation stage and the bottling period affect the wine that is crafted from them [12]. Terroir is the most often used (and abused) term in the wine vocabulary and is now a touchstone for the promotion of fine wine [13,14].

Thus, the physical environment includes the slope, the soil composition, the depth, the parent materials, mineral quality, texture, humidity content, and the water retention, astronomical, climate, and weather aspects (sun angles and emplacement during the growing period, dawn-day visibility, humidity range and timing, rain, temperature, heating grades, cooling at night, wind speed and direction, the environmental elements that contribute to the seasonal pattern in the atmosphere, timing and intensity of severe weather, such as hail, freezing, and snowfall) during the most biologically active seasons for grapevine [10,17]. In addition, the biological factors of a vineyard environment—biodiversity of flora and fauna that will increase the good microorganisms and predators of insects, thus lowering the risks of grapevine’s pests and diseases—are the natural components of terroir [10,17]. While a competent winemaker may claim that good wine is produced irrespective of the geographic location (appellation or denomination) of grape production, modern grapevine growers (usually) agree that “location matters” [18].

Consequently, the objectives of the paper are: To present the existing types of viticulture practices and to highlight the added value that precision viticulture brings to the current practices, To present the background of the Romanian and, more specifically, Transylvanian viticulture and the impact of the climatic changes in Transylvanian viticulture, To reveal the impact of the Internet of Things solutions in viticulture, To present the Amurg grapevine cultivar, as a cultivar whose cultivation can be extended based on the climatic changes context and IoT technologies, To introduce the Climatic Change Precision Viticulture (CCPV) concept to benefit from climatic changes, decision support systems, and IoT technologies to support the extension of the Amurg cultivar and to increase the sustainability of viticulture, by lowering the energetic inputs: fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and gas, To propose a sustainable CCPV architecture for a smoother adaption of the Amurg cultivar to Transylvania climate conditions, increased grapevine productivity and income, and lowered costs in terms of the resources used, To reveal the improvements brought by the proposed Internet of Things technologies in viticulture.

2. Precision Viticulture: Impact and IoT Solutions

Our most recent work [74] aimed to assess the relevance and the benefits of using the Smart Agriculture Xtreme platform from Libelium [75] in Romanian vineyards. The vineyard monitoring system follows another approach, which is built upon a layered Internet of Things architecture. In this way, the architecture brings the advantage of being scalable, in comparison with other proposed systems [49,76,77,78]. Moreover, the paper revealed that key parameters such as soil oxygen concentration, soil dielectric permittivity, soil, and air temperature and humidity could be monitored in real-time, with benefits in assessing the quality of the soil, and thus, the status of the vineyard. For example, the values obtained in the experimental results in [74] were compared with reference values of soil quality parameters as found in the literature [79].

In [71], a real-time acquisition and monitoring PV system was proposed, having the advantages of low consumption of energy, a low cost of the hardware implementation and the IoT devices, as well as a straightforward process of monitoring the temperature and moisture of the soil and transmitting this information to a base station. The system can also alert at the occurrence of a disease or pest of the plants in the vineyard when a drone is sent to the specific area and takes pictures that are processed afterward when the drone returns to the base station.

In [78], the SEnviro system was proposed, which is an IoT-based architecture for vineyard monitoring. The system also enables disease prediction, thus leading to an increase in the wine quality and a reduction of the grape losses in the vineyard. The system was implemented in Spain (province Castelló). It consisted of two parts: a node of sensors (SEnviro node) and an IoT software platform capable of managing different sensor nodes (SEnviro connect). Four SEnviro nodes were deployed and installed in the vineyards, and a fifth node was used for tests in a location nearby the laboratory. The collaboration between the SEnviro node and SEnviro connect in the vineyard monitoring enables an autonomous operation and the possibility to send alerts when a disease or another problem is detected in the vineyard.

In [85], the authors evaluated in an experimental setting in a vineyard in Spain the benefits of using IoT technologies that integrate a wireless sensor network (WSN), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and an engine for the processing and visualization of data. This system can help wine producers to access quickly, with a friendly interface, the data that WSN and UAVs collect from the vineyard.

3. Viticulture in Romania-General Context

According to the FAO’s statistics, in 2019, Romania ranked 10th in the world out of 98 countries for the grapevine cultivated area and harvested 176.340 ha and 18th out of 98 countries concerning the production of the grapes with 973,990 tonnes [87]. The total tonnage of wine produced in Romania in 2018 was 125,743 tonnes, ranking Romania 18th globally [88]. Moreover, the OIV (Organisation Internationale Vitivinicole) statistics [89] in 2020 revealed that Romania kept its position in the grapevine cultivated area ranking with a surface of 190.000 ha. On the other hand, OIV places Romania in 13th place globally from the point of view of wine production with 3.6 million hectolitres. Romania is located between 43°37′–48°15′ N lat and 20°15′–29°44′ E long, in Eastern Europe, having a temperate continental climate, Dfb and Dfa in a Koppen–Geiger climate updated classification [90,91]. The annual average temperature is 8 °C at the northern limit, to 11 °C at the southern boundary, and up to 11.7 °C in the plains [91,92]. The climate is influenced from the east by the steppe climate, from the south-west by the Mediterranean climate, and from the west and north-west oceanic climate [91]. The topography is diverse and distinct and comprises 28% mountains, in the middle of the country, 42% plateaus and hills, and 30% plain land [91]. More than half of Romania, more precisely 62%, is covered by arable land [93], with viticulture mainly concentrated in hilly and plateau areas [91]. Due to the adequate climate for grape production, in Romania, grapevine growing is a traditional practice that has arisen and developed throughout history [91,94]. Eight large grapevine growing regions (Figure 3) with specific environmental conditions, as a result of their proximity to the Carpathian mountains (altitude: 2500 m), the Danube river, and the Black Sea, constitute the nationwide viticultural area [91,94]. Furthermore, these regions include 141 plantations or vineyards, the southernmost of these is situated at 43° N, and the northernmost at 48° N [91]. The wine production types are differentiated from south to north depending on the accumulation of heliothermic resources, due to the wide latitude of the Romanian land, as it follows: the southern limit (43° N) is suitable for the table grape production [95], the southern half of Romania (between 43° N and 45° N) is predominantly characterized by red wine production, in the northern half of the country (between 43° N and 45° N), the white wine production is predominant, and at the northern limit (48° N), white table wine and sparkling wine production prevails [91]. Figure 3 presents the eight important viticultural zones (VZ) of Romania, which are: Transylvanian Plateau (VZ 1), Moldavian Hills (VZ 2), Muntenia and Oltenia Hills (VZ 3), Banat Hills (VZ 4), Crișana and Maramureș Hills (VZ 5), Dobrogea Hills (VZ 6), Danube Terraces (VZ 7), sands and other suitable terrains from the South (VZ 8) [91,94].

Figure 3. Viticultural zones in Romania.

The map of the Romanian vineyards presented in Figure 3 was compiled using GIMP editor and four maps: (1) Romania’s relief map, (2) Romania’s administrative map, (3) the map extracted from the Corine Land Cover Data-base 2006 Europe of the European Environment Agency (EEA 2006) [91] and the Romanian map from Maps of World [96]. Each Romanian viticultural zone, in addition to the popular international grapevine cultivars, have Vitis vinifera cultivars that are autochthonous tolerant and resistant to pests [97,98] and weather extremes and offer the local wine production specificity [91]. The specific characteristics of the Romanian vineyards are integrated within the grapevine growing technology adapted to the local cultivars cultivated in these areas [91,97,99].

VZ1 is suitable for obtaining quality and table white wines (QWW and TWW) that are dry, semi-dry and sweet from the cultivars such as Fetească albă, Pinot gris, Traminer roz, Sauvignon, Riesling Italian, Muscat Ottonel, as well as for sparkling white wines (SWW) from the cultivars Fetească regală, Fetească albă, Riesling Italian.

In the VZ2 of the Moldovian Hills, there is a cultivated grapevine for semi-sweet and sweet QWW and TWW from the cultivars Grasă de Cotnari, Fetească albă, Francusa, Tamaioasa romaneasca, Muscat Ottonel, Fetească regală, Aligote, Muscat Ottonel, Zghihara de Husi, Riesling Italian, Galbenă de Odobești, Plavaie, for quality and table red wines (QRW and TRW) from the cultivars Fetească neagră, Pinot noir, Băbească neagră, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Busuioacă de Bohotin, Oporto and for table grapes (TG) from the cultivars Chasselas doré and Chasselas rose, Muscat Hamburg, Coarnă neagră.

VZ3 is designated for the growing of grapes for QRW and TWW from the cultivars Cabernet Sauvignon, Fetească neagră, Pinot noir, Merlot, Busuioaca de Bohotin, Burgund Mare, for QWW and TWW from the varieties Fetească albă, Riesling Italian, Aligote, Fetească regală, Pinot gris, Sauvignon, Muscat Ottonel, Grasă de Cotnari, Tamaioasa românească, Saint Emilion and for TG from the varieties Chasselas doré and Chasselas rose, Muscat Hamburg, Muscat de Adda, Coarnă neagră, Afuz Ali, Italia, Cardinal.

The smallest VZ of Romania, VZ4, is mainly designated for QRW from the cultivars Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot noir, Merlot, Burgund Mare, Cadarcă, but QRW and TWW from the cultivars Riesling Italian, Fetească regală, Sauvignon, Muscat Ottonel, Creață, Majarca albă, and Steinschiller and TG from the cultivars Chasselas doré and Chasselas rose, Muscat Hamburg, Muscat de Adda are also grown.

The cultivars of the VZ5 are designated for QRW from the cultivars Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot noir, Merlot, Burgund Mare, Cadarcă, for QRW and TWW from the cultivars Riesling Italian, Fetească regală, Muscat Ottonel, Mustoasă de Măderat, Furmint, Pinot gris, and Traminer roz and TG from the cultivars Chasselas doré and Chasselas rose, Muscat Hamburg. The white cultivars of VZ5 are also used for distillates, and the cultivars Fetească albă, Fetească regală and Iordană for sparkling wines.

The viticultural zone of Dobrogea hills (VZ6) is represented by a large assortment of wines and table grapes and cultivars for raisins (Sultanina). Thus, for QWW and TWW, the cultivars Pinot gris, Chardonnay, Muscat Ottonel, Riesling Italian, Sauvignon, Fetească regală, and Aligote are grown, for QRW and TRW, the cultivars Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot noir, Merlot, Băbească neagră, Sangiovese, Burgund mare, and for TG, the cultivars Perla de Csaba, Italia, Chasselas doré and Chasselas rose, Cardinal, Muscat Hamburg, Muscat de Adda, Afuz Ali.

The Danube Terraces (VZ7) are mainly cultivated with TG (Perla de Csaba, Italia, Chasselas doré and Chasselas rose, Cardinal, Muscat Hamburg, Muscat de Adda, Afuz Ali) and also the only one in Romania for the seedless raisins. QRW and TRW from the cultivars Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot noir, Merlot, Burgund mare and QWW and TWW from the cultivars Pinot gris, Riesling Italian, Fetească regală, Sauvignon are also produced here.

On the VZ8, represented by the sands and other suitable terrains from the South of Romania, grapes for TRW and QRW (Rosioara, Sangiovese, Băbească neagră, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Burgund Mare) for TWW and QWW (St. Emilion, Rkatiteli, Fetească regală, Riesling Italian, Sauvignon, Aligote) and for TG (Muscat Perla de Csaba, Italia, Perla de Csaba, Chasselas doré and Chasselas rose, Cardinal, Muscat Hamburg, Muscat de Adda, Afuz Ali, Coarnă neagră) are cultivated [100].

The presented assortment of wines for all the VZ is completed and extended by newly created cultivars and the acclimatization of other international cultivars. Climate change has generated a dynamic of the cultivar assortment grown [91], and the general trend is the replacement of the white cultivars with the red ones and the increase of altitude for the white types [91].

5. Grapevine Amurg Cultivar

Amurg cultivar was obtained through the efforts of Csavossy Gheorghe, a researcher at the Research Station for Viticulture and Enology Blaj by intraspecific sexual hybridization between the acclimatized genitors Muscat de Hamburg and Cabernet Sauvignon cultivars with a unique Transylvanian terroir and was homologated in 1989 [110,120].

Amurg grapevine cultivar has a white-green, fluffy rosette (vegetative shoots), and its flower is a normal hermaphrodite. The adult leaf is round, large, with 3–5 lobes, and slightly hairy on the underside [110]. The lateral sinuses of the leaf are circularly closed, the petiole sinus is lyre-shaped and the petiole point is reddish [110]. The leaf edge has large, sharp teeth [110]. The grape is medium in size, cylindrical-conical, winged, compact [110]. The berry is ovoid, slightly elongated, red-blue, and has a juicy core [110].

Amurg is a cultivar of medium to great vigor, with the maturation of the grapes in the 5th epoch [110] ( Figure 7 ). It shows tolerance to low winter temperatures, up to minus 22 °C and is resistant to both downy mildew and Botrytis [110].

The fertility of the cultivar is low-medium, it forms only 35–48% fertile shoots ( Figure 7), and the fertility coefficients have average values of 0.8 for the relative one and 1.7 for the absolute one [110]. The average weight of a grape is 260 g, the weight of 100 berries is 261 g, and the potential for sugar accumulation is 178–197 g/L, accompanied by a must acidity of 4.5–5.5 g/L H 2SO 4 [121]. We highlighted in Table 5 that Amurg wine has an acidity of 5.92 g/L H 2SO 4 (Table 5) and is characterized by a content of 12.38% alcohol volume and 21.18 g/L non-reducing dry extract. The grape production obtained is on average 12–15 t/ha, from which a POD wine is obtained that can be used as a raw material for rosé sparkling wines ( Figure 7 ) [121].

In Table 6, we present the sensorial characteristics of the Amurg wine.

6. Amurg’s Diseases Tolerance and Resistance

Although much of the climate change debate has been centered on temperature effects, other concerns impacting the production of grapes, wines, and their quality include shifting viticulture due to elevated levels of CO 2 in the environment, additional moisture pressures in water-limited areas, as well as changes in the presence or severity of pests and grapevine diseases [39]. Some of the essential qualities of the Amurg cultivar are the resistance to low winter temperatures and the tolerance or even resistance to some diseases like black rot. The resistance or tolerance of grapevine to such diseases represents a critical feature that reflects the sustainability of their cultivation because, in this way, the fungicides treatments are lowered.

Guignardia bidwellii (Ellis) Viala and Ravaz, the pathogen of the grapevine’s black rot, is at the present time one of the most important fungal pathogens found in the vineyards worldwide [98]. The loss of harvest associated with this disease can vary from 5 to 100%, depending on climate, the reserve of pathogen’s inoculum, and sensitivity of cultivated cultivars [98,122,123]. Romania’s vineyards had sporadic and economically minor black rot outbreaks by the year 2006 [98]. In recent years, the incidence and severity of the disease in particular in the vineyards of Central Transylvania have been steadily increasing due to climate change, leading to substantial declines in productivity, with direct repercussions for wine quality and grapevine growers’ incomes in the region, [98,124,125]. Genetic stamina is the most rational and economical way of controlling this disease, particularly for plantations cultivated in a sustainable system [126,127]; although, at present, there are various methods and means of preventing and countering the attack of black rot and other diseases, e.g., smart viticulture [98].

In this framework, the results of the susceptibility/tolerance at the attack of black rot of cultivars homologated at SCDVV Blaj (for the period 2016–2018) revealed the tolerance of Amurg (Attack Degree = 0.25%) compared with other autochthonous cultivars [98]. A correlation between high rainfall, above 10 mm, high temperatures above 15 °C and infection pressure, incidence and severity of the Guignardia bidwellii attack was noticed in all three years [98]. For example, in June and July of 2016–2018, the attack frequency (F) on the clones Fetească regală-21 Bl. (F = 90%), Fetească albă-29 Bl. (F = 95%), Muscat Ottonel-12 Bl. (F = 90%) and Pinot gris-34 Bl. (F = 85%) increased by average values of 85–90% due to a few weeks with intense daily precipitation combined with high temperatures [98]. The frequency of the attack was below 5% for the cultivars Rubin (F = 2.80%) and Amurg (F = 4.50%) for the same climatic conditions [98]. For the Fetească albă-29 Bl. (I = 37%) and Muscat Ottonel-12 Bl. (I = 43%) clones, the intensity (I) of the black rot attack was especially high, while for the Rubin and Amurg cultivars, the intensity was much lower with an average of 4.80%, and 5.60%, respectively [98].

Table 7 reviews the results concerning attack frequency and intensity for each of the cultivars involved in the study.

References from Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8170; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158170

This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/su13158170