Project submitted under the call for supra-regional Operational Groups within Spain’s CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027, with expected funding from the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, EAFRD.
REGEVIT brings together wineries, biotechnology companies, research organisations and wine-sector bodies to develop and validate regenerative viticulture practices under different Spanish soil and climate conditions. The proposal allocates €345,106.66 to seven technical results and €77,611.08 to communication and knowledge-transfer activities, resulting in a combined planned budget of €422,717.74.
INNOVI, Catalan Wine Cluster: Representative of the Operational Group. It leads project communication, visibility and knowledge transfer and organises technical events and exchanges with the wine sector.
Familia Torres: Participates as a demonstration winery and provides vineyard plots in different parts of Catalonia. It implements and evaluates regenerative practices and contributes to agronomic monitoring, sampling and grape and wine quality assessments.
Viñas del Vero: A Somontano winery that participates in the validation of cover crops under different soil, altitude and microclimate conditions.
Paco & Lola, Cooperativa Vitivinícola Arousana: A DO Rías Baixas cooperative that provides Atlantic-climate vineyards and enables regenerative practices to be assessed within a cooperative and smallholding production model.
IDForest: A biotechnology company responsible for characterising soil microbiomes, identifying beneficial microorganisms and developing locally adapted microbial inoculants.
Azolla Projects: A company specialising in regenerative agriculture, carbon and ecosystem services. It develops the initial framework for a future regenerative carbon insetting model for vineyards.
The subcontracted organisations include IRTA, which leads scientific and technical implementation; Fundación Premio Arce and the Technical University of Madrid, which develop common protocols and indicators; the Regenerative Viticulture Association, which supports sectoral transfer; the Spanish Wine Technology Platform, which strengthens national dissemination, and Artica Ingeniería e Innovación, which supports technical and administrative management.
Climate change, erosion, declining organic matter and biodiversity loss are reducing the capacity of vineyard soils to retain water, supply nutrients and withstand drought, extreme temperatures and diseases.
Regenerative viticulture aims to restore these natural processes through cover crops, reduced soil disturbance, organic amendments and the promotion of beneficial microbial communities.
Mycorrhizal fungi and plant-growth-promoting bacteria can improve nutrient uptake, increase tolerance to water stress and limit certain pathogens. However, practical protocols are still needed to characterise these communities, select native strains and apply them safely in commercial vineyards.
REGEVIT also addresses the recovery of winery sludge as a source of organic matter, nutrients and potentially useful microorganisms. Its controlled use could reduce waste and external inputs while supporting a more circular winery model.
Another challenge is the absence of a specific and harmonised legal framework for regenerative viticulture. The project will generate evidence, indicators and recommendations to improve recognition, traceability and economic valuation of regenerative practices.
The overall objective is to develop and validate innovative practices that improve soil and vineyard biodiversity and functionality, increase vine resilience, optimise grape and wine quality, and generate economic, social and environmental benefits.
REGEVIT will assess planted and spontaneous cover crops, validate winery sludge as an organic amendment and develop native inoculants based on plant-growth-promoting bacteria, Trichoderma and other beneficial microorganisms.
It will also examine how regenerative practices affect vine physiology, grape composition and the chemical and sensory quality of wine.
Finally, the project will establish an initial framework for valuing ecosystem services and regenerative insetting and compare the costs and benefits of conventional and regenerative vineyard management.
Planted and spontaneous cover crops will be compared with conventional soil management in commercial vineyards in Catalonia, Aragón and Galicia.
The assessment will cover flora, soil fauna, arthropods, physical and chemical soil properties, enzyme activity and microbial communities. Drone imagery, metataxonomic sequencing and qPCR will also be used.
The project will produce cover-crop establishment and management protocols adapted to different winegrowing areas.
Winery sludge will be characterised to determine its composition, safety and regulatory suitability for agricultural use.
Following application in pilot plots, the project will assess changes in organic matter, water retention, fertility, biological activity and soil biodiversity.
A technical and regulatory guide will be prepared for its use as an organic amendment.
Native microorganisms with plant-growth-promoting or biocontrol properties will be isolated and selected.
The most promising candidates will be multiplied and tested first under controlled conditions and then in vineyards. The project will establish a strain bank, inoculant prototypes and initial scale-up recommendations.
The project will monitor vine growth, yield, water status and plant health.
At harvest, sugar content, acidity, pH, polyphenols and other quality parameters will be analysed. Experimental winemaking and chemical and sensory assessments will also be carried out.
This will determine whether regenerative practices maintain or improve quality and support the market differentiation of wines.
Benefits related to carbon sequestration, biodiversity, soil conservation and water retention will be identified.
Azolla Projects will prepare an initial indicator matrix, traceability criteria and a conceptual framework for future regenerative insetting initiatives within the wine value chain.
The implementation and maintenance costs of regenerative and conventional practices will be compared.
The assessment will consider possible reductions in fertilisers and plant protection products, improvements in resilience and product quality, and opportunities for market differentiation.
REGEVIT will produce cover-crop protocols, a guide for the agricultural use of winery sludge, a collection of beneficial microbial strains and prototype inoculants.
It will also generate vineyard-management recommendations linked to grape and wine quality, an initial framework for valuing ecosystem services, and a comparative cost-benefit study to support sectoral adoption.
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