Public opinion asks for it, the market demands it, the environment begs it: agriculture must reduce the use of chemicals , including the wine sector. And it is precisely with a view to a regional policy that aims to reduce the use of plant protection products in viticulture, especially in some complex local situations, that the strategy of using vine varieties "resistant" to the main plant diseases is gaining strength. These are vines derived from natural crossbreeding programs with vine varieties that contain particular characteristics of resistance, mainly to downy mildew and powdery mildew .
To cope with these pathologies, "resistant" vines require a reduced number of chemical treatments compared to traditional varieties, with all due respect to the community and the environment, which they thank, but also to the market because the resulting wines seem to be well received also by consumers.
Currently there are about 370 "resistant" varieties , obtained in 25 countries, including Italy, of which 34 are already registered in the National Register of Vine Varieties , currently usable only for IGTs.
Among this wide range of varieties of "resistant" vines, the Veneto Region has promoted in recent years a series of projects, managed by various Bodies, whose objective is to evaluate the "resistant" vines that can best adapt to the various regional wine-growing areas, in particular those with a steep slope or difficult to mechanize or in the field of organic viticulture .
The result of these projects has led to the authorization for the cultivation in the regional territory of as many as 24 varieties of "resistant" vines, which among other things are attracting a fair amount of interest among operators.
Among the various regional projects in the field, the one activated by Veneto Agriculture through its Conegliano Center deserves to be mentioned. Specifically, two experimental vineyards were created consisting of the main varieties admitted to cultivation in the Veneto: one is located in the Lison-Pramaggiore (VE) area , where among other things the harvest of the early varieties began in recent days, the another in the Municipality of Seren del Grappa (BL) . From some harvests the technicians of Veneto Agricoltura carry out the vinification operations with the aim of precisely defining the oenological and productive characterization of the cultivated vines.
From 2020 this evaluation activity is enriched by the results deriving from another regional project , always entrusted to Veneto Agricoltura which, with the collaboration of the PIWI Veneto Association , has created an experimental vineyard in the Borgo Valbelluna (BL) area consisting of the latest innovations. "resistant" of black grape vines that can overlap, as phenological times and oenological characteristics, the Pinot Noir variety, a vine that is characterized by a medium-early budding and early ripening. These characteristics seem to adapt well to the climatology of the area, subject to late frosts and abundant late summer and autumn precipitation.
