Terroir 1996 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Terroirs and legal protection

Terroirs and legal protection

Abstract

[English version below]

Le concept AOC permet, par une délimitation précise, la mise en valeur de terroirs particulièrement adaptés à la viticulture. Seuls les terroirs ainsi identifiés peuvent produire des vins portant le nom de l’AOC. Le nom de cette AOC ne peut être utilisé que pour des vins issus de terroirs compris dans l’aire d’appellation, sous peine de sanctions pénales. La délimitation ainsi opérée participe à la protection du nom de l’AOC. A l’inverse, le terroir délimité n’est pas protégé.
Pourtant, il est victime d’agressions régulières :
– agressions matérielles : création de routes, autoroutes, lotissement, carrières….qui réduisent l’aire d’appellation;
– agressions intellectuelles : implantations d’usines, de centrales nucléaires, de centre de transit de carcasses d’animaux, de station d’épuration…qui nuisent à l’image de l’appellation et risquent parfois de porter atteinte à la qualité de la production (pollution du vignoble).
Ces menaces sont permanentes et les outils de protection juridique sont insuffisants.

La protection devrait intervenir :
– au moment de l’élaboration des documents d’urbanisme ;
– lors de l’instruction des dossiers concernant les projets menaçants.
Les procédures existant actuellement prévoient :
– un simple rôle consultatif de l’INAO dans certains cas déterminés ;
– la possibilité pour les syndicats de défense des appellations, dès qu’ils estiment qu’une atteinte est possible, d’obliger l’autorité décisionnaire à consulter le Ministre de l’Agriculture avant toute prise de décision. En aucun cas, les décisions ne doivent être conformes aux avis rendus.
Récemment, le législateur a créé la notion de «zone agricole protégée » destinée à limiter les autorisations de construire dans ces zones. Mais, aucune ZAP n’a encore été créée.

Face à ces carences, certains professionnels s’orientent vers une protection via les outils de protection des paysages ou sites exceptionnels : ZPPAUP, inscription au patrimoine de l’UNESCO. La rédaction de chartes paysagères se développe également bien qu’elles ne constituent que des documents prospectifs. La mise en œuvre de ces protections passe bien souvent par la réalisation d’un nouveau zonage.

Thanks to a precise delimitation, the AOC concept enhances the value of terroirs particularly suited to viticulture. Only the terroirs thus identified can produce wines with an AOC label. The name of the AOC can only be used for wines from the terroirs within the area of appellation; misuse is subject to legal sanctions. The delimitation thus established is designed to protect the AOC name. Conversely, the terroir delimited is not protected.
It comes, however, under regular attack :
– in practice: creation of roads, highways; housing estates, quarries…which reduce the appellation area;
– in theory : creation of factories; nuclear power plants, animal carcass transit centers, waste water treatment plants…that undermine the image of the appellation and may even impair the quality of production (pollution of the vineyard).
These threats are permanent and the tools for legal protection insufficient.

Protection should apply:
– when town and country planning documents are being drafted;
– when threatening projects are subject to legal inquiry.
Current procedures provide that :
– the INAO may play an advisory role only in certain specific cases;
– unions for the defense of appellations, in the event they deem harm may occur, may oblige decision-making authorities to consult the minister for agriculture prior to any decision.
Under no circumstances do decisions have to be in keeping with the opinions handed down. Legislators recently created the concept of “protected agricultural zone” (ZAP) designed to limit the number of building permits in these areas. However, not a single ZAP has as yet been set up.

In light of these shortcomings, certain professionals are turning towards protection via instruments to protect landscapes or exceptional sites: ZPPAUP, designation as UNESCO heritage. The drafting of landscape charters is also developing, although they are merely prospective documents. The actual implementation of these forms of protection often calls for new zoning.

DOI:

Publication date: February 15, 2022

Issue: Terroir 2002

Type: Article

Authors

Charlotte ASSEMAT

Syndicat Général des Vignerons Réunis des Côtes du Rhône, 6, rue des 3 Faucons, 84000 AVIGNON

Contact the author

Keywords

Terroir viticole, AOC, protection juridique
Terroir, legal protection

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2002

Citation

Related articles…

Use of multispectral satellite for monitoring vine water status in mediterranean areas

The development of new generations of multispectral satellites such as Sentinel-2 opens possibilities as to vine water status assessment (Cohen et al., 2019). Based on a three years field campaign, a model of Stem Water Potential (SWP) estimation on vine using four satellite bands in Red, Red-Edge, NIR and SWIR domains was developed (Laroche-Pinel et al., 2021). The model relies on SWP field measures done using a pressure chamber (Scholander et al., 1965), which is a common, robust and precise method to assess vine water status (Acevedo-Opazo et al., 2008). The model was mainly developed from from SWP measures on Syrah N (Laroche Pinel E., 2021). A large scale monitoring was organized in different vineyards in the Mediterranean region in 2021. 10 varieties amongst the most represented in this area were monitored (Cabernet sauvignon N, Chardonnay B, Cinsault N, Grenache N, Merlot N, Mourvèdre N, Sauvignon B, Syrah N, Vermentino B, Viognier B). The model was used to produce water status maps from Sentinel-2 images, starting from the beginning of June (fruit set) up to September (harvest). The average estimated SWP for each vine was compared to actual field SWP measures done by wine growers or technicians during usual monitoring of irrigation programs. The correlations between mean estimated SWP and mean measured SWP were at the same level than expected by the model. (Laroche Pinel, 2021) The general SWP kinetics were comparable. The estimated SWP would have led to same irrigation decisions concerning the date of first irrigation in comparison with measured SWP. Acevedo-Opazo, C., Tisseyre, B., Ojeda, H., Ortega-Farias, S., Guillaume, S. (2008). Is it possible to assess the spatial variability of vine water status? OENO One, 42(4), 203. Cohen, Y., Gogumalla, P., Bahat, I., Netzer, Y., Ben-Gal, A., Lenski, I., … Helman, D. (2019). Can time series of multispectral satellite images be used to estimate stem water potential in vineyards? In Precision agriculture ’19, The Netherlands: Wageningen Academic Publishers, pp. 445–451. Laroche-Pinel, E., Duthoit, S., Albughdadi, M., Costard, A. D., Rousseau, J., Chéret, V., & Clenet, H. (2021). Towards vine water status monitoring on a large scale using sentinel-2 images. remote sensing, 13(9), 1837. Laroche-Pinel,E. (2021). Suivi du statut hydrique de la vigne par télédétection hyper et multispectrale. Thèse INP Toulouse, France. Scholander, P.F., Bradstreet, E.D., Hemmingsen, E.A., & Hammel, H.T. (1965). Sap pressure in vascular plants: Negative hydrostatic pressure can be measured in plants. Science, 148(3668), 339–346.

Bioclimatic shifts and land use options for Viticulture in Portugal

Land use, plays a relevant role in the climatic system. It endows means for agriculture practices thus contributing to the food supply. Since climate and land are closely intertwined through multiple interface processes, climate change may lead to significant impacts in land use. In this study, 1-km observational gridded datasets are used to assess changes in the Köppen–Geiger and Worldwide Bioclimatic (WBCS)

The impact of leaf canopy management on eco-physiology, wood chemical properties and microbial communities in root, trunk and cordon of Riesling grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.)

In the last decades, climate change required already adaptation of vineyard management. Increase in temperature and unexpected weather events cause changes in all phenological stages requiring new management tools. For example, defoliation can be a useful tool to reduce the sugar content in the berries creating differences in the wine profiles. In a ten-year field experiment using Riesling (Vitis vinifera L, planted 1986, Geisenheim, Germany), various mechanical defoliation strategies and different intensities were trialed until 2016 before the vineyard was uprooted. Wood was sampled from the plant compartments root, trunk, cordon and shoot for analyses of physicochemical properties (e.g. lignin and element content, pH, diameter), nonstructural carbohydrates and the microbial communities. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of reduced canopy leaf area on the sink-source allocation into different compartments and potential changes of the fungal and prokaryotic wood-inhabiting community using a metabarcoding approach. Severe summer pruning (SSP) of the canopy and mechanical defoliation (MDC) above the bunch zone decreased the leaf area by 50% compared to control (C). SSP reduced the photosynthetic capacity, which resulted in an altered source-sink allocation and carbohydrate storage. With lower leaf area, less carbohydrates are allocated. This for example resulted in a decreased trunk diameter. Further, it affected the composition of the grapevine wood microbiota. SSP and MDC management changed significantly the prokaryotic community composition in wood of the root samples, but had no effect in other compartments. In general, this study found strong compartment and less management effects of the microbial community composition and associated physicochemical properties. The highest microbial diversities were identified in the wood of the trunk, and several species were recorded the first time in grapevine.

Impact of yeast derivatives to increase the phenolic maturity and aroma intensity of wine

Using viticultural and enological techniques to increase aromatics in white wine is a prized yet challenging technique for commercial wine producers. Equally difficult are challenges encountered in hastening phenolic maturity and thereby increasing color intensity in red wines. The ability to alter organoleptic and visual properties of wines plays a decisive role in vintages in which grapes are not able to reach full maturity, which is seen increasingly more often as a result of climate change. A new, yeast-based product on the viticultural market may give the opportunity to increase sensory properties of finished wines. Manufacturer packaging claims these yeast derivatives intensify wine aromas of white grape varieties, as well as improve phenolic ripeness of red varieties, but the effects of this application have been little researched until now. The current study applied the yeast derivative, according to the manufacture’s instructions, to the leaves of both neutral and aromatic white wine varieties, as well as on structured red wine varieties. Chemical parameters and volatile aromatics were analyzed in grape musts and finished wines, and all wines were subjected to sensory analysis by a tasting panel. Collective results of all analyses showed that the application of the yeast derivative in the vineyard showed no effect across all varieties examined, and did not intensify white wine aromatics, nor improve phenolic ripeness and color intensity in red wine.

A better understanding of the climate effect on anthocyanin accumulation in grapes using a machine learning approach

The current climate changes are directly threatening the balance of the vineyard at harvest time. The maturation period of the grapes is shifted to the middle of the summer, at a time when radiation and air temperature are at their maximum. In this context, the implementation of corrective practices becomes problematic. Unfortunately, our knowledge of the climate effect on the quality of different grape varieties remains very incomplete to guide these choices. During the Innovine project, original experiments were carried out on Syrah to study the combined effects of normal or high air temperature and varying degrees of exposure of the berries to the sun. Berries subjected to these different conditions were sampled and analyzed throughout the maturation period. Several quality characteristics were determined, including anthocyanin content. The objective of the experiments was to investigate which climatic determinants were most important for anthocyanin accumulation in the berries. Temperature and irradiance data, observed over time with a very thin discretization step, are called functional data in statistics. We developed the procedure SpiceFP (Sparse and Structured Procedure to Identify Combined Effects of Functional Predictors) to explain the variations of a scalar response variable (a grape berry quality variable for example) by two or three functional predictors (as temperature and irradiance) in a context of joint influence of these predictors. Particular attention was paid to the interpretability of the results. Analysis of the data using SpiceFP identified a negative impact of morning combinations of low irradiance (lower than about 100 μmol m−2 s−1 or 45 μmol m−2 s−1 depending on the advanced-delayed state of the berries) and high temperature (higher than 25oC). A slight difference associated with overnight temperature occurred between these effects identified in the morning.