Cultivating Innovation: Emerging Challenges and Solutions in Viticulture
Special Issue (Closure: 30 November 2025)

Paolo Sabbatini is a full professor at the University of Torino (IT), in the Department of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences (DISAFA), since 2022. Previously, Dr. Sabbatini was an Assistant Professor (2007), Associate Professor (2014), and Full Professor (2021) in the Department of Horticulture at Michigan State University (USA). His research focuses on the ecophysiology of grapevines, with emphasis on physiological and cultural factors limiting vine growth, sustainable yield, and fruit maturity and quality. He investigates the physiological bases of yield and quality in response to abiotic stresses, aiming to solve whole-plant problems to optimize crop productivity and product quality. He holds a master's degree (1996) in Agriculture and a PhD in Plant Productivity (2001) from the Polytechnic University of Marche (Italy). He is an associate editor of the Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research, Frontiers in Plant Science, and Scientific Reports.

Michele Faralli is associate professor at the University of Trento (IT) and co-ordinates the unit of Agronomy, Physiology and Genetics of grapevine and olive tree. Michele obtained his BSc and MSc at the University of Perugia (IT) and a PhD in Crop Physiology at Harper Adams University (UK). His research explored crop productivity, photosynthesis, stomatal physiology as well as abiotic stress responses during different post-docs and research positions at the University of Essex (UK), the Julich Forschungszentrum (DE), the Edmund Mach Foundation (IT) and the University of Istanbul (TR). Currently his research mainly concerns olive and grapevine with a specific focus on management approaches optimization, preferable physiological traits and quality parameters under a climate change scenario.

Luca Mercenaro is a research at the University of Sassari (Italy) in the Department of Agricultural Sciences. Luca holds a masters degree in Agricultural Science and Technology in 2003 and a PhD in Agrometeorology and ecophysiology of agricultural and forestry systems in 2007, both from the University of Sassari (Italy). His research activity is mainly carried out on grapes; however, in the last years, has been extended to olive and almond orchard. During different research positions, Luca works on various aspects such as vine water relations and physiology, genetic resources and soil management. Currently, his research are oriented to better understand the physiological responses and grape musts composition in relation to vine management, to support precision agriculture and field phenotyping applications.

Stefania Savoi has been a researcher in viticulture (AGRI-03/A) at the Department of Agricultural, Forest, and Food Sciences, University of Turin, since 2021. She has expertise in the (eco)physiology of grapevines, particularly fruit development, the chemistry of grape berry primary and secondary metabolites, viticultural techniques, and molecular biology skills with a focus on transcriptomics analysis. She has developed her scientific career in Europe and North America, in institutes of excellence in Italy, Canada, Austria, and France, and has worked with highly qualified researchers and professors. She holds a bachelor's and master's degree in Agro-Industrial Biotechnology (2009 and 2011) obtained from the University of Verona (Italy) and a PhD in Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology (2016) from the University of Udine (Italy) in collaboration with the Fondazione Edmund Mach (Italy) and the University of British Columbia (Canada). In 2016, she was awarded a post-doc fellowship at the Division of Viticulture and Pomology at BOKU University in Vienna, Austria, followed by a second one in 2018 at the Institut Agro in Montpellier, France. Over the years, she has actively participated in European COST actions, such as FRUIT-QUALITY (FA1106) and INTEGRAPE (CA17111) / GRAPEDIA (IG17111). She is an associate editor of the journal OENO One.