The social construction of wine-growing areas: the “Graves de Bordeaux”

High quantities of chemicals are applied in the vineyard for pest and disease control. Transition towards low pesticide viticulture is a key issue to improve sustainability. Winegrowers have to gradually change their practices to engage in this transition. This work aims at analysing the pesticide use evolution during transition towards low pesticide vineyards and identify some management options mobilized by winegrowers. To understand the diversity of pathways taken towards agroecological transition, we characterized different types of pesticide use evolution.

Determining the age of a vineyard is essential for understanding its influence on wine quality and characteristics.

The nutrient reserves in the grapevine perennial structure perform a critical role in supplying the grapevine with nutrients

It is common to find tanks in the winery with wine below their capacity due to wine transfers between tanks of different capacities or the interruption of operations for periods of a few days. This situation implies the existence of an ullage space in the tank with prolonged contact with the wine causing its absorption/oxidation. Oxygen uptake from the air headspace over the wine due to differences in the partial pressure of O2 can be rapid, up to 1.5 mL of O2 per liter of wine in one hour and 100 cm2 of surface area1 and up to saturation after 4 hours.

A «terroir» is a group of vineyards from the same region, belonging to a specific appellation, and sharing the same type of soil, weather conditions, grapes and wine making savoir-faire, which contribute its specific personality to the wine. White wine variety «Rebula» or «Ribolla gialla» is a local and traditional variety, which is mentioned already in XIII. century like variety for tax paying and merchandise.