Terroir 2004 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Geological history and landscape of the Coastal wine-growing region, South Africa

Geological history and landscape of the Coastal wine-growing region, South Africa

Abstract

The geology of the Western Cape testifies to the former existence of a late Precambrian supercontinent, its fragmentation, the closure of an ocean between the South African and South American continental precursors (Kalahari and Rio de la Plata cratons), the accumulation of marine sediments and limestones, and their compression during a collision between these cratons. This event took place during assembly of the southern supercontinent of Gondwana, over 500 million years ago. During the Cambrian the landscape of the western and southern parts of the Cape was eroded to form an alluvial plain with granite hills. From the Ordovician to the Carboniferous this plain intermittently subsided. The resultant Agulhas Sea, which at times extended from Vanrhynsdorp in the north to beyond Port Elizabeth in the east, and which was bordered by mountains to the west and north, received considerable volumes of sediment. These sediments were lifted and folded during the Permo-Triassic Cape Orogeny to form the mountains of the Cape Fold Belt, which are capped with erosion-resistant sandstones, whilst softer shales are locally preserved in downfolds.
After Gondwana rifted, a remnant of the Rio de la Plata craton remained attached to South Africa where it underlies the vineyards of the Coastal Region. Erosion was rapid under the warm, wet conditions which prevailed through much of the Cretaceous. By the end of the Cretaceous the main topographic features of the Coastal Region had already been roughed-out. Sculpting of the landscape into its modern form took place during the Tertiary and Quaternary, a time of sub-aerial erosion, pronounced changes in sea level and climatic variation, tending toward increasing aridity. The form of the modern landscape reflects the abilities of the rock structures and materials to resist protracted weathering and erosion.

DOI:

Publication date: January 12, 2022

Issue: Terroir 2004

Type: Article

Authors

J. Wooldridge

ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij, Private Bag X5026, 7599 Stellenbosch, South Africa

Contact the author

Keywords

Geology, landscape, South Africa, terroir, vineyard, Western Cape, wine

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2004

Citation

Related articles…

Projected changes in vine phenology of two varieties with different thermal requirements cultivated in La Mancha DO (Spain) under climate change scenarios

The aim of this work was to analyze the phenology variability of Tempranillo and Chardonnay cultivars, related to the climatic characteristics in La Mancha Designation of Origin, and their potential changes under climate change scenarios. Phenological dates referred to budbreak, flowering, veraison and harvest were analyzed for the period 2000-2019. The weather conditions at daily time scale, recorded during the same period, were also evaluated. The thermal requirements to reach each of these phenological stages were calculated and expressed as the GDD accumulated from DOY=60. Changes in phenology were projected by 2050 and 2070 taking into account those values and the projected temperatures and precipitation, simulated under two Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios –RCP4.5 and RCP8.5– using an ensemble of models. The average phenological dates during the period under study were, April 16th ± 6.6 days and April 5th ± 6.0 days for budbreak, May 31st ± 6.0 days and May 27th ± 5.3 days for flowering, July 26th ± 5.6 days and July 25th ± 5.8 days for veraison, and Ago 23rd ± 10.8 days and Ago 17th ± 9.0 days for harvest, respectively, for Tempranillo and Chardonnay. The projected changes in temperature imply an average change in the maximum growing season (April-August) temperatures of 1.2 and 1.9°C by 2050, and 1.6 and 2.6°C by 2070, under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios, respectively. A reduction in precipitation is predicted, which vary between 15% for 2050 under RCP4.5 scenario and up to 30% by 2070 under RCP8.5. The advance of the phenological dates for 2050, could be of 6, 7, 7, and 8 days for Tempranillo and 4, 6, 6 and 9 days for Chardonnay, respectively for budbreak, flowering, veraison and harvest under the RCP4.5 scenario. Under the RCP8.5 emission scenario, the advance could be up to 30% higher.

Ten years soil diagnosis in vineyards, with particularly analysis of organic and microbial mass and measuring their evolution

Since 1996, we study the soil in viticulture, specially in the South of France. In the field, we delimit soil units and observe soil profiles and take samples to analyse its physical, mineral, organic and microbial mass composition

Better understanding on the fungal chitosan and derivatives antiseptic effect on Brettanomyces bruxellensis in wine.

The addition of fungal chitosan in wine is allowed since 2009 to release some spoilage microorganisms such as Brettanomyces bruxellensis (OIV/OENO 338A/2009; EC 53/2011).

Elucidating white wines peptides: An analytical breaktrough

The chemistry of wine is particularly complex due to biochemical and chemical interactions that significantly modify its organoleptic characteristics and stability over time. Aging on lees is a well-known practice during which various compounds are released, ensuring wines oxidative stability and its overall sensory quality [1,2].

How do we describe wine imagery? Expertise shapes language usage and multimodal imagery for wine

The acquisition of wine expertise is a multi-faceted and multisensory process with implications for sensory perception, attention, memory, and language production. With the prevalence of the predictive model of brain functioning, one area of burgeoning research interest involves wine mental imagery, since the brain relies on imagined experiences to build predictions for the future. Recent evidence has shown that, for instance, those with higher imagery vividness are more susceptible to wine advertising. However, little is known about the association between mental imagery and other associated cognitive processes, such as the ability to produce words that describe such imagery.