Terroir 2004 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 The South African vineyard landscapes: impact on long term cultural practices

The South African vineyard landscapes: impact on long term cultural practices

Abstract

This paper follows the one presented by Saayman at the International Symposium on Landscapes of Vines and Wines in the Loire Valley during July 2003. Where Saayman’s paper described the heritage and development of South African vineyard landscapes, this one focuses on how the landscape is used to assist in decision-making concerning the most important long term practices.
The diversity of South African vineyard landscapes, especially those in the Western Cape, prevents the application of recipes in vineyard practices. In this region, viticulture is practiced on coastal plains, undulating foothills and mountain slopes ranging from below 10m to above 500m altitude. These variations occur over short distances, frequently within one kilometer. A huge variation in soil type and exposure to sea breezes further increase the complexity of the landscape. Evidently the choice of rootstock and scion cultivar is critical and frequently situations are found where more than one rootstock and certainly more than one scion clone must be used in the same block.
Clearly, it is very difficult to create homogeneous vineyard blocks in this diverse landscape. Examples are presented of how to define vineyard block boundaries. Cool sea breezes during summer are responsible to prevent excess leaf and berry temperature increases. The choice of row direction is an important decision to utilize this beneficial wind effect, and where possible SW-NE row directions are used.
To create vineyard blocks on varying soil types is difficult. An important tool in this regard is to stadardise on the distance between rows and to vary the distance between vines in the row according to the vigour potential of the soil. Examples of this, as well as how the landscape affects the choice of the trellising system, are presented.

DOI:

Publication date: January 12, 2022

Issue: Terroir 2004

Type: Article

Authors

E . Archer

Lusan Premium Wines, P O Box 104, Stellenbosch

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2004

Citation

Related articles…

Aroma diversity of Amarone commercial wines

Amarone is an Italian red wine produced in the Valpolicella area, in north-eastern Italy. Due to its elaboration with withered grapes

From protein-centered to gene-centered approaches to investigate DNA-protein interactions in grapevine

DNA-binding proteins play a pivotal role in critical cellular processes such as DNA replication, transcription, recombination, repair, and other essential activities. Consequently, investigating the interactions between DNA and proteins is of paramount importance to gain insights into these fundamental cellular mechanisms. Several methodologies have been devised to uncover DNA-protein interactions, which can be broadly categorized into two approaches. The “protein-centered” approach focuses on identifying the DNA sequences bound by a specific transcription factor or a set of TFs. Techniques falling within this category include chromatin immunoprecipitation, and protein-binding microarrays.

Les terroirs : variae causarum figurae

The jurist feels like an intruder when talking about terroirs. He looks at the press and tries to understand. We can read there about the cooking festival of May 30, 1996 which “..highlights products whose quality depends on a region”, that Camembert du pays d’Auge is the only one to be protected, I was thinking of camembert from Normandy, that 80% of Greek feta is made in the Netherlands, I thought it was in Denmark, and that the European Community protects geographical indications of IGP origin, probably a new category replacing the indications protected areas (1). I also learned that distributors are asking for more local products because “they come to confuse the cards in the part engaged with the big brands”. Carrefour has its “Terroirs and drawers”, Prisunic its “Vent d’Ouest”, Intermarché “Les bouquets du terroir”, Monoprix “Les terroirs de France” (2), Promodés and its brand “Reflets de France” for the “Continent” hypermarkets (3). At the same time it is asserted that “The term is a mere common noun. Unprotectable and therefore unprotected” (4).

Viticultural zoning in D.O.C. Ribeiro (Galicia, NW Spain)

L’AOC Ribeiro est la plus ancienne de Galice (NO de l’Espagne), avec une aire de production potentielle de 3.200 ha. Situé dans la région centrale de la vallée du Miño, le Ribeiro a un climat de tipe maritime tempéré qui se correspond avec la zone climatique II de Winkler.

Influence of soil management and vine water regime on leaf gas exchange, berry composition and quality of Chasselas wines in Switzerland

A soil management and vine irrigation trial was carried out for 4 consecutive years from 2020 to 2023 at agroscope’s experimental vineyard in leytron (Valais, Switzerland) with the Chasselas grape variety (clone 14-33/4, grafted on 5bb). Two types of soil maintenance (bare soil with chemical weeding and sown grass) coupled with two water regimes (with and without drip irrigation from flowering to veraison) were compared in a randomized design with four replicates of 10 vines each.