Terroir 1996 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Review of the delimited zone of the AOC Saint-Joseph

Review of the delimited zone of the AOC Saint-Joseph

Abstract

L’appellation d’origine contrôlée repose sur une définition précise de l’aire de production du raisin. Cette délimitation définie par l’Institut National des Appellations d’Origine est proposée par des experts choisis pour leurs compétences dans le domaine de la connaissance de la relation terroir – vins, après avis du syndicat de défense de chaque AOC. L’exemple choisi concerne l’AOC St Joseph située dans les Cotes du Rhône dites Septentrionales. Celle-ci avait été définie en 1956 sur 6 communes autour de Tournon en Ardèche. Elle fut étendue à 20 autres communes en 1969. A cette époque, les experts ont pris en compte l’incertitude vis-à-vis de l’avenir viticole des coteaux qui dominent la vallée du Rhône. En effet, pour les entretenir, ceux-ci nécessitaient des ressources humaines qui commençaient à se faire rare. Cette idée conduisit ainsi à délimiter une zone de production assez large afin d’étendre l’appellation à des terrains compatibles avec les moyens modernes d’exploitation liés à la mécanisation. Au milieu des années 1980,dans sa sagesse, la réflexion du syndicat de défense de l’appellation vis à vis de l’avenir de l’AOC St Joseph l’amènera, à prendre conscience de la dérive qui pouvait conduire à une banalisation des vins de l’AOC St Joseph du fait de la délocalisation du vignoble permise par la décision de 1969. Dès 1986, le syndicat demande alors à l’INAO la possibilité d’engager une révision de l’aire délimitée pour respecter l’implantation en coteaux de la vigne,situation qui a fait la notoriété de cette AOC. Après de nombreux travaux sur le terrain et après un long travail de persuasion des différents acteurs de l’appellation, une nouvelle délimitation vit le jour en 1994. Ainsi, l’aire de production potentielle est désormais réduite de 6850 ha à 3400 ha afin de recentrer le vignoble sur les coteaux, éléments fondateurs de cette appellation. Cette opération conduisit également à exclure des vignes déjà plantées: sur 755 ha de vignes que comportait l’AOC en 1992, 170 ha furent éliminés. Des mesures d’accompagnement notamment incitation financière pour planter dans les coteaux ont été retenues et ont permis de faire accepter cette opération douloureuse. Aujourd’hui le recentrage du vignoble dans les coteaux a permis de recadrer l’image de l’AOC St Joseph et de mieux affirmer l’identité de ses vins. Elle a permis également de faire revivre le paysage viticole des coteaux dominant la vallée du Rhône dans des conditions économiques satisfaisantes permettant une meilleure valorisation du produit. Des mesures d’accompagnement notamment incitation financière pour planter dans les coteaux ont été retenues et ont permis de faire accepter cette opération douloureuse. Aujourd’hui le recentrage du vignoble dans les coteaux a permis de recadrer l’image de l’AOC St Joseph et de mieux affirmer l’identité de ses vins. Elle a permis également de faire revivre le paysage viticole des coteaux dominant la vallée du Rhône dans des conditions économiques satisfaisantes permettant une meilleure valorisation du produit. Cet exemple montre qu’un travail d’experts, réalisé en lien avec les «porteurs de mémoire» que représente le syndicat de défense d’une AOC permet de retrouver les éléments fondamentaux qui constituent le «terroir» de l’AOC St Joseph: un paysage, des vignes en coteaux et un savoir-faire dans un milieu difficile pour révéler un vin prestigieux.

DOI:

Publication date: February 3, 2022

Issue: Terroir 2002

Type: Article

Authors

Gilbert FRIBOURG

Institut National des Appellations, 17, Rue Jacquard ZI des Auréats, 26000 VALENCE

Keywords

appellation d’origine, délimitation, révision, coteaux, AOC St Joseph

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2002

Citation

Related articles…

Current climate change in the Oplenac wine-growing district (Serbia)

Serbian autochthonous vine varieties Smederevka (for white wines) and Prokupac (for rosé and red wines) are the primary representatives of typical characteristics of wines and terroir of numerous wine-growing areas in Serbia. In the past, these varieties were the leading vine varieties, however, as the result of globalization of winemaking and the trend of consumption of wines from widely prevalent vine varieties, they were replaced by introduced international varieties. Smederevka and Prokupac vine varieties are characterized by later time of grape ripening, and relative sensitivity to low temperatures. Climate conditions can be a restrictive factor for production of high-quality grapes and wine and for the spatial spreading of these varieties in hilly continental wine-growing areas. This paper focuses on the spatial analysis of changes of main climate parameters, in particular, analysis of viticultural bioclimatic indices that were determined for the purposes of viticulture zoning of wine-growing areas in the period 1961-2010, and those same parameters determined for the current, that is, referential climate period (1988-2017). Results of the research, that is, analysis of climate changes indicate that the majority of examined climate parameters in the Oplenac wine-growing district improved from the perspective of Smederevka and Prokupac vine varieties. These studies of climate conditions indicate that changes of analyzed climate parameters, that is, bioclimatic indices will be favorable for cultivation of varieties with later grape ripening times and those more sensitive to low temperatures, such as the autochthonous vine varieties Smederevka and Prokupac, therefore, it is recommended to producers to more actively plant vineyards with these varieties in the territory of the Oplenac wine-growing district.

VINIoT – Precision viticulture service

The project VINIoT pursues the creation of a new technological vineyard monitoring service, which will allow companies in the wine sector in the SUDOE space to monitor plantations in real time and remotely at various levels of precision. The system is based on spectral images and an IoT architecture that allows assessing parameters of interest viticulture and the collection of data at a precise scale (level of grape, plant, plot or vineyard) will be designed. In France, three subjects were specifically developed: evaluation of maturity, of water stress, and detection of flavescence dorée. For the evaluation of maturity, it has been decided first to work at the berry scale in the laboratory, then at the bunch scale and finally in the vineyard. The acquisition of the spectral hyperstal image as well as the reference analyzes to measure the maturity, were carried out in the laboratory after harvesting the berries in a maturity monitoring context. This work focuses on a case study to predict sugar content of three different grape varieties: Syrah, Fer Servadou and Mauzac. A robust method called Roboost-PLSR, developed in the framework of this work (Courand et al., 2022), to improve prediction model performance was applied on spectra after the acquirement of hyperspectral images. Regarding the evaluation of water stress, to work with a significant variability in terms of water status, it has been worked first with potted plants under 2 different water regimes. The facilities have allowed the supervision of irrigation and micro-climatic conditions. The regression models on agronomic variables (stomatal conductance, water potential, …) are studied. To detect flavescence dorée, the experimental plan has consisted of work at leaf scale in the laboratory first, and then in the field. To detect the disease from hyper-spectral imaging, a combination of multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) and factorial discriminant analysis (FDA) was proposed. This strategy proved the potential towards the discrimination of healthy and infected leaves by flavescence dorée based on the use of hyperspectral images (Mas Garcia et al., 2021).

How can historical cultivars mitigate the effects of climate change?

IFV, INRAe and the national network “Partenaires de la Sélection Vigne” representing 37 organizations from the different wine regions, have been working increasingly closely over the last 2 decades towards the preservation of the French varietal patrimony. There are approximately 600 patrimonial varieties according to INRAe and SupAgro Montpellier experts, including ancient cultivars (400) and intravarietal crossbreeds obtained since the 19th century. In the context of a drastic reduction in such varieties from the mid 1980’s in favor of mainstream varieties, it was essential to carry out an inventory of old vines and vineyards. INRAe Vassal collection plays a key role here as it holds the largest diversity available, along with a rich bibliography and herbariums, offering us the opportunity to document and double check the identity of a cultivar, consolidating the expertise of ampelographers. The work is carried out in several stages, from verifying the existence of a variety in a small region, through to rehabilitation. During this session, the authors present the process that leads to the official registration of a variety. After this, IFV selection center takes over to initiate the process of selection and propagation. A specific focus within regions such as the Alps, Champagne and the South-West will provide details of the full procedure. Bia, Bouysselet, Chardonnay rose, Mecle and the aptly named Tardif, are some of the cultivars that have followed this procedure. Furthermore, a recent regulation established by INAO on “varieties of interest for adaptation purposes” might boost uptake by growers. Since 2006, 36 historical cultivars have been registered. Most of these have been neglected in the past due to late maturity, lack of sugar and high titratable acidity at harvest time. Such characteristics are today considered as positive qualities, not only in mitigation of the effects of climate change, but also as an opportunity for restoring diversity…

Inhibition of Oenococcus oeni during alcoholic fermentation by a selected Lactiplantibacillus plantarum strain

The use of selected cultures of the species Lactiplantibacillus plantarum in Oenology has grown in prominence in recent years. While initial applications of this species centred very much around malolactic fermentation (MLF), there is strong evidence to show that certain strains can be harnessed for their bio-protective effects. Unwanted spontaneous MLF during alcoholic fermentation (AF), driven by rogue Oenococcus oeni, is a winemaking deviation that is very difficult to manage when it occurs. This work set out to determine the efficacy of one particular strain of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum(Viniflora® NoVA™ Protect), against this problem in Cabernet Sauvignon must. The work was carried out at commercial scale and in a winery environment and compared the bio-protective culture with the more traditional approach of reducing must pH by the addition of tartaric acid. The combination of both was also investigated. The concentration of both Oenococcus oeni and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum was determined using qPCR. The adventitious Oenococcus oeni showed the most growth during AF in the control wine, whereas in the wines treated with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum a bacteriostatic effect against this species was observed. This effect was comparable to the wines treated with tartaric acid. This has particular commercial relevance for controlling the flora in musts with high pH, or when the addition of tartaric acid is either not permitted or is prohibitive for other reasons.

Effects of graft quality on growth and grapevine-water relations

Climate change is challenging viticulture worldwide compromising its sustainability due to warmer temperatures and the increased frequency of extreme events. Grafting Vitis vinifera L.