Terroir 2004 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Study and valorization of vineyards “terroirs” of A.O.C. Cahors (Lot, France)

Study and valorization of vineyards “terroirs” of A.O.C. Cahors (Lot, France)

Abstract

In the current context of market competition and consumption evolution, it is necessary to produce wines of a genuine typicity. The Terroir represents an unique and irreproducible inheritance that can be valorized through the origin and the sensory characteristics of the wines.
Since 1989, the Expérimental Association of « la Ferme Départementale d’Anglars-Juillac » has led research and experimentation on vineyard terroirs, aimed at direct valorization for the winegrowers. The objective is to know (1) the wine-producing potentials of each terroir of the Cahors Appellation, for the principal vine grape cultivars of the Appellation: Malbec N or Cot N or Auxerrois N, (2) the vine behaviour on these terroirs and (3) to valorize this knowledge through technology, agronomy and enological procedures adapted to each terroir.
Cartography of the whole A.O.C. Cahors has been realized (22000ha). Nine terroirs have been identified according to the type of soil and the landscape situation: alluvial terraces of the Lot, “grèzes”, calcareous hillsides, high calcareous plateaus (eventually with marl), and red clays from sidérolithique formations. Agronomic and enological studies of a representative parcel of each terroir have been done since 1994. Pedological pits have also been done with physical and chemical analyses of each described horizon. Each year, maturity controls are carried out on these parcels; each is separately vinified with the same protocol. Wines are analyzed and tasted.
Results show that qualitative terroirs exist on alluvial terraces of the Lot, as well as on high calcareous plateaus. It is not the chemical nature (acid or calcareous) of the soil but the thickness of the soil which determines the quality of a terroir, in relation with the regularity of vine hydrous nutrition. For all that, some terroirs seem well adapted to produce vintage wines, whereas other terroirs seem more adapted to produce regional wines or wines for blending.
This study provides an agronomic and enological basis for advising wine-growers, in order to lead each terroir to its qualitative optimum: adaptation of the cultural practices, especially for new plantations (choice of the rootstock, soil management); adaptation of the method of vinification according to the terroir. The wine-grower has to take care of the terroir, the quality of the grape harvested and the wine. This study has led to a qualitative improvement of A.O.C. Cahors wines. The Cahors Appellation is now experiencing an infatuation for the most qualitative terroirs.
In the future, the start-up of the hierarchical system of the A.O.C. Cahors terroirs and the creation of vintage wines, will allow a large communication on wine quality and typicity, favorable to the whole Appellation Cahors wine business.

DOI:

Publication date: January 12, 2022

Issue: Terroir 2004

Type: Article

Authors

Francis Laffargue (1), Elisabeth Besnard (1) and Marc Garcia (2)

1) Association d’Expérimentation, Ferme Départementale, 46140 Anglars-Juillac, France
2) ENSAT, Centre de Viticulture-Œnologie de Midi-Pyrénées, Avenue de l’Agrobiopole, Auzeville-Tolosane, BP 107 F, 31320 Castanet-Tolosane Cedex, France

Contact the author

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2004

Citation

Related articles…

A better understanding of the climate effect on anthocyanin accumulation in grapes using a machine learning approach

The current climate changes are directly threatening the balance of the vineyard at harvest time. The maturation period of the grapes is shifted to the middle of the summer, at a time when radiation and air temperature are at their maximum. In this context, the implementation of corrective practices becomes problematic. Unfortunately, our knowledge of the climate effect on the quality of different grape varieties remains very incomplete to guide these choices. During the Innovine project, original experiments were carried out on Syrah to study the combined effects of normal or high air temperature and varying degrees of exposure of the berries to the sun. Berries subjected to these different conditions were sampled and analyzed throughout the maturation period. Several quality characteristics were determined, including anthocyanin content. The objective of the experiments was to investigate which climatic determinants were most important for anthocyanin accumulation in the berries. Temperature and irradiance data, observed over time with a very thin discretization step, are called functional data in statistics. We developed the procedure SpiceFP (Sparse and Structured Procedure to Identify Combined Effects of Functional Predictors) to explain the variations of a scalar response variable (a grape berry quality variable for example) by two or three functional predictors (as temperature and irradiance) in a context of joint influence of these predictors. Particular attention was paid to the interpretability of the results. Analysis of the data using SpiceFP identified a negative impact of morning combinations of low irradiance (lower than about 100 μmol m−2 s−1 or 45 μmol m−2 s−1 depending on the advanced-delayed state of the berries) and high temperature (higher than 25oC). A slight difference associated with overnight temperature occurred between these effects identified in the morning.

Protected Designation of Origin (D.P.O.) Valdepeñas: classification and map of soils

The objective of the work described here is the elaboration of a map of the different types of vineyard soils that to guide the famers in the choice of the most productive vine rootstocks and varieties. 90 vineyard soils profiles were analysed in the entire territory of the Origen Denominations of Valdepeñas. The sampling was carried out in 2018 (June to October) by making a sampling grid, followed by photointerpretation and control in the field. The studied soils can be grouped into 9 different soil types (according to FAO 2006 classification): Leptosols, Regosols, Fluvisols, Gleysols, Cambisols, Calcisols, Luvisols and Anthrosols. A map showing the soil distribution with different type of soils has been made with the ArcGIS program. Regarding to the choice of rootstock, Calcisoles are soils with a high active limestone content, so the rootstocks used in these soils must be resistant to this parameter; Luvisols are deep soils with high clay content, so they will support vigorous rootstocks. Because the cartographic units are composed of two or more subgroups, with are associated in variable proportions, 9 different soil associations have been established; Unit 1: Leptosols, Cambisols and Luvisols (80%, 15% and 5% respectively); Unit 2: Cambisols with Regosols and Luvisols (40%, 30% and 30% respectively); Unit 3: Cambisols and Gleysols with Regosols (40%, 40% and 20% respectively); Unit 4: Regosols with Cambisols, Leptosols and Calcisols (40%, 30%, 15% and 15% respectively); Unit 5: Cambisols, Leptosols, Calcisols and Regosols (25% each of them); Unit 6: Luvisols with Cambisol and Calcisols (80%, 10% and 10% respectively); Unit 7: Luvisols and Calcisols with Cambisols (40%, 40% and 20% respectively); Unit 8: Calcisols with, Cambisols and Luvisols (80%, 10% and 10% respectively); Unit 9: Anthrosols. These study allow to elaborate the first map of vineyard soils of this Protected Designation of Origin in Castilla-La Mancha.

A predictive model of spatial Eca variability in the vineyard to support the monitoring of plant status

[lwp_divi_breadcrumbs home_text="IVES" use_before_icon="on" before_icon="||divi||400" module_id="publication-ariane" _builder_version="4.19.4" _module_preset="default" module_text_align="center" module_font_size="16px" text_orientation="center"...

Climate modeling at local scale in the Waipara winegrowing region in the climate change context

In viticulture, a warming climate can have a very significant impact on grapevine development and therefore on the quality and characteristics of wines across different spatial scales, ranging from global to local. In order to adapt wine-growing to climate change, global climate models can be used to define future scenarios, but only at the scale of major wine regions. Despite the huge progress made over the last ten years in terms of the spatial resolution of climate models (now downscaled to a few square kilometres), they are not yet sufficiently precise to account for the local climate variability associated with such parameters as local topography, in spite of these parameters being decisive for vine and wine characteristics. This study describes a method to downscale future climate scenarios to vineyard scale. Networks of data loggers have been used to collect air temperature at canopy level in the Waipara winegrowing region (New Zealand) over five growing seasons. These measurements allow the creation of fine-scale geostatistical models and maps of temperature (at 100 m resolution) for the growing season. In order to model climate change at pilot site scale, these geostatistical models have been combined with regional climate change predictions for the periods 2031-2050 and 2081-2100 based on the RCP8.5 climate change scenario. The integration of local climate variability with regionalized climate change simulations allows assessment of the impacts of climate change at the vineyard scale. The improved knowledge gained using this methodology results from the increased horizontal resolution that better addresses the concerns of winegrowers. The results provide the local winegrowers with information necessary to understand current processes, as well as historical and future viticulture trends at the scale of their site, thereby facilitating decisions about future response strategies.

Water deficit differentially impacts the performances and the accumulation of grape metabolites of new varieties tolerant to fungi

The use of resistant varieties is a long-term but promising solution to reduce chemical input in viticulture. Several important breeding programs in Europe and abroad are now releasing a range of new hybrids performing well regarding fungi susceptibility and producing good quality wines. Unfortunately, insufficient attention is paid by the breeders to the adaptation of these varieties to climatic changes, notably to the increased climatic demand and water deficit (WD). Thus, prior to the adoption of such varieties by the wine industry in Mediterranean regions, there is a need to consider their suitability to WD. This study aimed to characterize the different drought-strategies adopted by 6 new resistant varieties selected by INRAE in comparison to Syrah. To allow the assessment of long-term impacts of WD, field-grown vines were exposed to contrasted WD from 2018 to 2021 under a semi-arid Mediterranean climate. A gradient of WD was applied in the field and controlled through plant measurements at the single plant level. Grape development was non-destructively monitored to determine the arrest of berry phloem unloading. The impacts of WD on berry composition, including water, primary metabolites (sugars, organic acids), secondary metabolites (anthocyanins, thiols precursors) and main cations contents, were assessed at this specific stage. Results showed different varietal responses during the year and inter-annual acclimation in terms of plant water use efficiency, biomass accumulation, as well as yield components and berry composition. WD differentially reduced the accumulation of primary metabolites at plant and berry levels, but it little changed their concentrations in the fruits at the ripe stage. Moreover, WD differentially impacted the accumulation of secondary metabolites and major cations between the varieties. In the talk, we’ll present the main results regarding the WD impacts on fruit metabolites and enlarge the reflection about the practical assessment of the grapevine acclimation to WD.