Clone performance under different environmental conditions in California

Vineyard site selection and determination of adapted grape varieties for a site are the most fundamental factors contributing to vineyard success, but can be challenging to ascertain

From a fertility standpoint, the vine has to extract from the soil mineral substances necessary for its existence. However, the amount of certain available nutrients does not always correspond to a proportional increase in quality.

“The vine and the wine are great mysteries. Only the vine makes us intelligible what is the true flavor of the earth”. Colette. The notion of terroir has always been the basis of the notion of AOC from which it is inseparable. It is moreover the definition of the production zone which was at the start of the attempts to set up the designation of origin, at the beginning of the century, after the phylloxera crisis.

Sustainable viticulture and winemaking continue to represent huge challenges, where a better knowledge about the functional role of biodiversity in the vineyard ecosystems is required.

Soil and climate maps at the 1:10000 scales exist for more than 12’000 ha of Swiss vineyards. The use of these maps as consulting tools for growers remains difficult due to the complexity