Vineyard “Naturalness”: Principles and Challenges

The notion of "natural wines" has gained traction, yet the concept of vineyard naturalness remains largely neglected, often conflated with "organic" or "regenerative" viticulture. Vineyard naturalness, however, is rooted in a holistic approach that transcends these terms. In our effort to define its objectives, we focused on the methods and practices that enable its realization. This review explores several "natural-based" solutions aimed at the canopy and soil, guided by three core principles: (i) maximizing the use of freely available natural resources to reduce reliance on external and costly inputs; (ii) promoting approaches that support natural vine growth and productivity with minimal corrective interventions (repeated summer pruning serves as a prime example); and (iii) fostering practices that trigger natural tolerance responses to biotic or abiotic stresses. At the canopy level, the topics covered in this review include (i) strategies and tools to enhance light interception, distribution, and the conversion of assimilates into dry matter; (ii) leveraging existing biodiversity, including indigenous varieties and new rootstocks, to enhance adaptability to climate change challenges; and (iii) efforts to improve vineyard balance through the targeted application of established techniques, such as early basal leaf removal and late winter pruning, which can significantly enhance tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. On the soil front, our focus will be on (i) enhancing the green water footprint within a vineyard ecosystem; (ii) identifying the optimal combination to achieve a carbon sink function in the vineyard without excessive competition for water and nutrients from cover crops; and (iii) increasing the ecological value of cover cropping, exemplified by reducing the splash dispersal of fungal pathogens through the growth of a tall interrow cover crop in spring and its subsequent termination under a sub-row mulching solution. Moving toward vineyard naturalness does not imply reverting to the wild behavior of nondomesticated plants; rather, it involves maintaining a necessary remunerative yield at the desired grape quality while employing a range of physiologically robust solutions that minimize the need for constant corrections and amendments in vineyard management.