L’étude “terroirs d’Anjou”: un exemple de caractérisation intégrée des terroirs viticoles, utilisable à l’échelle parcellaire

Natural factors of the production (“terroir” and vintage) are known as an important element for identifying wines by their genuine typicité and their authenticity. The program “Terroirs d’Anjou” (1994-1999) aims at bringing the necessary scientific basis for a rational and reasoned exploitation of the terroir. This study is based on a method of soil characterization called: “Basic Terroir Units” concept (UTB). This method integrates the three main physical components of the terroir (geology, soil, environment landscape). An viticultural survey is farthermore driven to take into account human factors of the terroir. The study contains 29 communes situated to the south of the Loire river and covers the “Coteaux du Layon” and “Coteaux de l’Aubance” areas. All the datas of the terroir characterization are spatialised within a Geographical Information System that allows the publishing of thematic maps. The concrete valorization of the work is to produce cartographie atlas at the disposal of wine­growers presenting the diverse “Basic Terroir Units”, and also advisory maps in order to optimise the wine-growers practises according to the terroir. Each map uses a large working scale (1:25 000) which allows for the results to be used for each parcel.