Adaptability of Different International Grape Varieties in Diverse Terroirs: Impact on Grape and Wine Composition

In the last two decades, several international grape varieties from different traditional wine countries such as, France, Portugal, Italy, and Spain have been introduced in several world wine regions, increasing their representation in the world. The introduction of grape varieties in emerging regions with diverse environmental conditions from their natural origin introduces challenges on the adaptability of these varieties in new specific “terroirs,” not only in terms of their productivity but also related with the grape and wine characteristics. In addition, it is also important to compare their characteristics with native grape varieties grown in the local regions. On the other hand, climate change has also promoted greater mobility of grapes to new regions, increasing the dispersion of various grape varieties in areas where viticulture was, until now, severely limited. Thus, considering the importance of the dispersion of several grape varieties in regions out of the original provenance, the purpose of this chapter is to present a review of the most recently published data about the adaptation of several grape varieties in different environments and the impact on their qualitative characteristics (including in wines produced). The comparative analysis with some of the native varieties existing in these environments, when applicable, will also be analyzed.