Local Grapevine Diversity for Mediterranean Climate Adaptation: A Critical Integrative Review and Evidence-to-Deployment Framework

Hotter, drier and less predictable conditions are changing Mediterranean viticulture and renewing interest in local grapevine diversity. Regional persistence can identify candidates but does not demonstrate climatic adaptation. We asked when published evidence can support an adaptation claim and movement towards deployment. In this critical integrative review, indexed searches, complementary retrieval, retrospective validation and a bibliographic update produced a non-exhaustive corpus of 105 publications from January 2000 to September 2026. Studies were retained when they informed candidate identity, climatic response, comparative performance, robustness or possible use. Variation was reported in phenology, water relations, berry composition and responses to drought and heat. Much of the evidence stopped early. Identity or discovery was the main contribution of 24 publications; 16 examined mechanisms and 29 compared performance. Only four tested robustness across years or environments. Nine reached deployment-related questions, but none monitored later performance within a defined adaptation domain. Recovery, carry-over, compound or sequential stress and long-term productive stability remained poorly documented. These breaks informed an eight-gate framework, numbered zero to seven. A retrospective reading of Monastrell, Xynisteri and Greco showed that evidence stopped at different points and for different reasons. It demonstrated how the gates could be used, not that the framework was validated. Local diversity may widen adaptation choices, but recommendations require stronger evidence. Prospective testing across contrasting Mediterranean production systems is now needed.