The Spanish wine industry is not only in a permanent crisis, more evident since the pandemic, but also faces serious challenges that affect its future viability. These challenges are, on the one hand, those derived from climate change that compromise grape growing in some areas and its quality in many others, and on the other hand, those derived from the great worldwide decrease in the consumption of alcoholic beverages.

From the experience accumulated in more than 35 years as a scientist specializing in understanding the chemical basis of the perceptions (and tangentially, emotions) associated with wine, it is possible to obtain some keys to reorient the industry and program a transition.

First of all, we will analyze the chemical, sensory and sociological characteristics that make wine a product with unique features and high added value, in order to try to derive the aspects that we must critically improve in some cases and preserve in others, in order to maintain the specific characteristics of our industry, no matter what it becomes in the future.

Secondly, I will list and briefly discuss some scientific-technical possibilities both for continuing to grow grapes in increasingly warmer areas and for obtaining quality products from them, with emphasis on obtaining products without alcohol or, at least, with reduced levels of alcohol.

It is in the science-industry discussion of these rationales that it will be possible to discern which are the most appropriate and to design the path to achieve them.