Environmental impact of Sagrantino and Grechetto grapes cultivation for wine and vinegar production in central Italy

The contribution of the European food sector to the total amount of greenhouse gases emissions is equal to one fifth. Footprint indicators together with Life Cycle Assessment have emerged to be useful tools to analyze and report environmental performance. In this paper the environmental impact of aged vinegar produced from Grechetto and Sagrantino grapes varieties is analyzed. Life Cycle Assessment of wine is performed to calibrate the model. Impact assessment is studied evaluating: carbon footprint, ecological footprint, water footprint, acidification, eutrophication, ozone layer depletion, photochemical oxidation. The new approach proposed in this paper leads to the obtainment of a complete analysis of the impact of aged vinegar, which can help a small farm choose more sustainable production methods, also optimizing logistics. This is the scientific added value of the work. The results show that aged vinegar has a carbon footprint comprised between 1.94 and 2.54 kg CO2/l. The Ecological footprint of aged vinegar varies between 9.83 and 13.23 g m2/kg. The Water Footprint of aged vinegar varies between 1332 and 1892 l/l. The water scarcity weighted water footprint methods available in the software SimaPro 8 give different results depending on their assumptions. These can be useful for comparative studies between different products.