Old grapevines in historical city centres and suburbs of Emilia Romagna: inventory and preliminary characterization of a cultural heritage

A program aimed at the individuation of Vitis specimens located in the Emilia Romagna city centres and suburbs has started in 2007 in order to collect information on their presence, history, traits, present use and conditions. Exploration and collection of information was the first step of the work. Passport data were collected; site location was recorded by Global Positioning System (GPS), for geo-coding purposes. Plant size has been measured. The ampelographic characterisation of leaf, shoot, bunch and berry samples for some of the inventoried plants has been started, according to the OIV descriptors, in order to attempt the varietal identification. The individuated plants are located both near private or public buildings and have sometimes important locations: churches, cloisters and squares in the city centres (e.g., S. Biagio and Piazza della Pomposa, Modena; cloister in the area of S. Maria Maddalena convent, Bologna; cloister of the church of S.Maria in Regola, Imola). The plants are generally leaned against the walls of buildings or trained to pergolas. These information are the base for planning protection and conservation activities and for grapevine exploitation at a scientific, spreading and educational level.