Terroir 1996 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Eléments importants d’une méthodologie de caractérisation des facteurs naturels du terroir, en relation avec la réponse de la vigne à travers le vin

Eléments importants d’une méthodologie de caractérisation des facteurs naturels du terroir, en relation avec la réponse de la vigne à travers le vin

Abstract

The French viticultural appellation areas are the result of an empirical, historical and evolutionary selection which, generally, has consecrated a match between natural factors, grape varieties and viti-vinicultural practices. The notion of terroir is the main basis of the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée in viticulture. It is based on the one hand on privileged natural factors and on the other hand on the know-how of the winegrowers; the whole allowing the production of a wine endowed with an authenticity and a sensory typicity. Wine-growing practices evolve according to progress in viticulture and oenology, while the natural factors of the terroir are much more stable, with the exception of the vintage. They therefore represent a fundamental pillar of the identity of an appellation vineyard. Faced with a wine market that is globalizing and an evolution of the consumer, the “terroir” factor takes on a new dimension, becoming an important commercial vector for many vineyards.

Scientific approaches to this theme have been relatively limited, due to the complexity of the problem concerning the variables to be studied, their chain of influence and the overall response of the vine to the terroir, through wine (Riou et al., 1995 ). An AOC most often applies to a wine-growing region whose surface area is sufficient for the expression, in most cases, of a large-scale spatial diversity of the natural environment (terroir units) which can lead to significant differences in the kind of wine..

An economic valuation of this factor of production therefore requires a method that can easily reveal and identify the units of terroir of a region, but also give them a spatial dimension, to allow a concrete use by the winegrowers, at the level of wine and agro-viticultural techniques.

Download the PDF

DOI:

Publication date: March 25, 2022

Type: Poster

Issue: Terroir 1996

Authors

R. MORLAT

I.N.R.A. U.R.V.V.
42, rue Georges Morel. 49071 Angers. France

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 1996

Citation

Related articles…

Influence of the agronomic management on the aroma of Riesling wines

Nitrogen fertilisation of grapevines is known to influence not only plant development and production yield, but also yeast assimilable nitrogen (YAN). This parameter is related to the growth of yeast

Read More

The effect of sulfur compounds on the formation of varietal thiols in Sauvignon Blanc and Istrian Malvasia wines

Varietal thiols 3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol (3SH), 3-sulfanylhexyl acetate (3SHA) and 4-methyl-4-sulfanylpentan-2-one (4SMP) are essential for fruity aromas of Sauvignon Blanc wines. The concentration of varietal thiols in wines was thought to be related to the concentration of their precursors in grapes, however only a small proportion of precursors are released to varietal thiols during fermentation. New findings suggested that specific grape juice metabolites could significantly impact on the development of three major varietal thiols and other aroma compounds of Sauvignon Blanc wines.

Read More

Exploring the factors affecting spatio‐temporal variation in grapevine powdery mildew

The spatial distribution of powdery mildew is often heterogeneous between neighboring plots, with higher disease pressure in certain places

Read More

Cartography of « Terroir Units » is a Tool to Improve the Ré Island Vineyard Management (France)

A study of « terroirs » was achieved from 2003 to 2005 in the whole vineyard of the Ré island (17, France). Over more than 1,990 ha, a cartography at the 1/10.000 scale, including characterization of climatic, pedological, geological and hydrogeological components of « Basic Terroir Units » (B.T.U.) was made. Also, a survey among wine growers was conducted. All data were treated together in a G.I.S. connected to a data base. 22 kinds of map were built (B.T.U. and components, soil water reserve, vine functioning potentials, varieties, rootstocks, viticultural practices and soil management).

Read More

Integrative study of Vitis biodiversity for next-generation breeding of grapevine rootstocks 

Drought is one of the main challenges for viticulture in the context of global change. The choice of rootstock could be leveraged for vineyard adaptation to drought as we can improve plant performance without modifying the scion variety. However, most of the existing rootstocks, selected over a century ago, have a narrow genetic background which could compromise their adaptive potential.

Read More