Cold Hardiness Dynamics and Spring Phenology: Climate-Driven Changes and New Molecular Insights Into Grapevine Adaptive Potential

Climate change has become a topic of increasing significance in viticulture, severely challenged by this issue. Average global temperatures are increasing, but frost events, with a large variability depending on geographical locations, have been predicted to be a potential risk for grapevine cultivation. Grape cold hardiness encompasses both midwinter and spring frost hardiness, whereas the avoidance of spring frost damage due to late budbreak is crucial in cold resilience. Cold hardiness kinetics and budbreak phenology are closely related and affected by bud’s dormancy state. On the other hand, budbreak progress is also affected by temperatures during both winter and spring. Genetic control of bud phenology in grapevine is still largely undiscovered, but several studies have recently aimed at identifying the molecular drivers of cold hardiness loss and the mechanisms that control deacclimation and budbreak. A review of these related traits and their variability in different genotypes is proposed, possibly contributing to develop the sustainability of grapevine production as climate-related challenges rise.