LowpHWine, a new CIEN consortium managed by artica+i
The collaborative R&D&I project LowpHWine has already started its first works in search of possible scientific-technological solutions to regulate and control the increase in pH of Spanish wines in the current conditions of climate change, focusing on the possible effects that different soil and vine conditions may have on the acid composition of grapes and wines.
LowpHWine is thus a new opportunity to study how to preserve and improve the stability of wines over time, with a future projection and application, not only in the national but also in the international wine scene.
The key to the success of this initiative lies not only in the scientific-technical quality of its studies and trials, but also in the diversity and representativeness of its consortium in the wine industry, being promoted by a total of eight companies and ten leading national research centers.
Pago de Carraovejas leads this project and works hand in hand with three other wineries: Roda, Barbadillo and Hoyada de Lobos. The remaining four members belong to the auxiliary wine industry, including a nursery (Vitis Navarra), a fertiliser company (Fertinagro Biotech), a biotechnological company of microorganisms for sustainable agriculture (Atens) and a company producing oenological equipment and products (Productos Agrovin).
Regarding research centres, different research groups from different Spanish universities participate in LowpHWine, with Domingo Marquina from the Complutense University of Madrid overseeing the main line. Other researchers also participate in different activities and tasks such as Sergi Ferrer (University of Valencia), Ignacio Martín, Rosa López and Pilar Santamaría (ICVV), Sergi de Lamo (VITEC), Gonzaga Santesteban (Public University of Navarra-UPNa), Santiago Benito (Polytechnic University of Madrid-UPM), Carlos García (CEBAS-CSIC), Pedro Casquero (University of León), Sergio Gómez (University of Castilla La Mancha-UCLM) and Cinta Calvet (IRTA).
LowpHWine was born as a working group within the Wine Technology Platform (PTV) in the February 2019 open days held by the Association at CSIC (Madrid). It has had the support of artica+i as a technological agent of the PTV, providing support in the preparation of the scientific-technical documentation of the proposal, as well as the coordination of the partners and its monitoring and technical and administrative justification.
The project, whose full title is ‘Study of new factors related to the soil, the plant and the oenological microbiota that influence the acidity balance of wines and their quality assurance and stability in hot climates’, runs until August 2024 with a budget of around €6m and will be developed within the framework of the CIEN Strategic Program of the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI).
