Adaptation must always be the answer for a given wine region, but of course the underlying problems are similar in different parts of the world. We hope that the Congress will provide space for international professional collaboration between researchers and practitioners wishing to engage in the same research.

The basic aim is to improve the production efficiency and economy of viticulture, giving priority to economic and environmental sustainability. The adaptation of viticulture to climate change and its possible solutions employs many professionals and researchers. Digitalisation and robotics are developing rapidly due to labour shortages, more economical cultivation, and the cultivability of unique production sites. As a wine region with one of the most unique production backgrounds in the world, one of the most important messages is terroir. We pay special attention to the special issues of viticulture, which form the basis of the production of natural sweet wines. Our section would like to present the results of real research that supports the applied knowledge from the practicing profession.

the innovative wine treatment materials, the microbial ecology of wine production, yeast starter cultures, the different managing way of malolactic fermentation, the production of quality sparkling wines using traditional and Charmat manners, the analytical sensory testing methods, the world’s natural sweet wines and about specialities of terroir wines.

The wine trade has become international to an unprecedented extent. Today, more than half of the wines produced are not consumed in their home countries. However, this global development has significantly increased the intensity of competition. Accordingly, the activity of the actors has also increased.

In addition, not only the competition intensified within the wine sector, but in recent decades, potential substitutes have emerged, such as beer, cocktails made from spirits and other pleasure drinks, which are now in fierce competition supported by huge spending for advertisements.

Therefore, the most important topics of the session will be the sustainability of the competitiveness of the wine sector, brand building and the use of the most effective marketing tools. We also pay attention to consumers, especially the most promising groups such as women and young people. We will not avoid difficult issues either, such as global labour shortages, and soaring costs that cannot be covered by price increases.

This session aims to emphasize this unity for education in view of a new, scientifically defined terroir concept and high-quality wine production. Education in wine science should have a holistic and multidisciplinary approach, including all areas of viticulture, grapevine development, ecological farming, agroecology, pedology and climatology, oenology, oenological technologies, microbiology and microbial ecology, wine flavour chemistry, and quality assurance. The most important economic aspects of winemaking should be discussed, such as circular economy, multifunctional agriculture, wine marketing and basic accountancy. Very important to emphasize the role of wine geography, and the knowledge of historic grape varieties since these are indispensable for genetic conservation.

The research of wine tourism trends currently means the search for enumeration and analysis of phenomena that will intensify in the future. Wine tourism also plays an important role in rural development. We are looking for presentations with topics in the following areas:

How wine tourism plays an integrative role – how it contributes to many elements of the tourism value chain. The relationship between wine tourism and local food production and handicrafts.

How it supports the development of local communities, the preservation of their tradition and how it contributes to the value proposition of destinations. The image-creating role of wine tourism, its potential to increase the number of visitors and its effect on reducing seasonality are extremely important.