Approximately 30% of the biomass produced by the wine sector is not wine. Marc, lees, pomace, vine leaves, prunings and winery wastewater have historically been treated as waste streams. In a circular bioeconomy, they become inputs — for functional foods, cosmetics, organic plant protection, biopolymers, animal feed, soil improvement and bioenergy.
This shift is more than a waste-management story. It rewires the economics of the vineyard. Cost reduction from regenerative practices — cover cropping, no-till, integrated livestock — combines with new income streams from valorised by-products and ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration. The vineyard becomes a multifunctional Circular Agricultural District rather than a single-output farm.
Climate adaptation is the other side of the same coin. Biologically active soils retain water more effectively, vineyards designed for biodiversity weather extreme conditions better, and reduced reliance on synthetic inputs lowers exposure to volatile global supply chains. Regenerative organic certification gives all of this market-recognisable form, supporting premium pricing for producers committed to the model.
The session on Vine and Wine Economics, together with By-product Valorisation and Cultural Heritage, will examine how this transition is taking shape in practice — and how policy, certification and consumer demand will accelerate or constrain it over the next decade.