Développement du concept d’Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée et d’Indication Géographique

a) wine, a qualitative and user-friendly product, favors a visual support, even for a scientific study because it refers to the image of the terroir, in particular by its visible landscape. b) the vineyard landscape, which is fairly open by definition, favors this type of approach. c) the framework of the Terroir Test conducted by the URVV (INRA – Angers) comprises 15 micro-plots of 100 strains, and requires at this scale precise surveys of the environment, hence systematic shots, of the center of the plot, over 360°, at 50 mm intervals, at 1.70 m from the ground and horizontally.

Context and purpose of the study ‐ Crop load management by cluster thinning can improve ripening and the concentration of key metabolites for grape and wine quality. However, little work has been done on testing the impact of crop load management on terpene content of white grapes. The goal of the study was to assess if by reducing crop load via cluster thinning growers can increase terpene concentration of grapes, as well as to test if the timing of thinning application affects terpene concentration.

In the Cognac appellation, the production of white wines is almost exclusively dedicated to elaborate Charentaise eaux-de-vie. In this sense, the quality of Cognac eaux-de-vie intrinsically depends on the quality of the base wines subjected to the distillation stage. In this context, the production of these base wines differs from those of classic white wines to release particular organoleptic properties during the distillation stage.

Vine water status has a significant influence on vineyard yield and berry composition (Williams and Matthews, 1990; Williams et al., 1994). It has been hypothesized that the response of plants to soil water deficits may be due to some sort of “root signal” (Davies and Zhang, 1991). This signal probably arises due to the roots sensing a reduction in soil water content or an increase in the mecanical impedance as the soil dries out.

In the context of climate change, excessive bitterness and astringency in wines have become increasingly prevalent. While variety selection and viticultural practices offer long-term solutions, they require considerable time before yielding practical results. In contrast, fining remains an accessible and immediate tool for winemakers.