La sémantique liée à la notion de terroir : une objectivité pluridisciplinaire

Wine research in the past years has mainly been focused on laboratory scale due to the possibility of controlling winemaking variables. Conversely, studies on wine quality in relation to the winemaking variables at the winery scale may be able to better account for the actual challenges encountered during wine production. Winemaking problems are recently arising from progressive changes in environmental conditions in relation to the terroir. It is important to realize that each wine region may have specific winemaking protocols and that winemakers often base their decisions on subjective, emotional, and empirical opinions. Due to all the above-mentioned issues, taking the correct decision in winemaking to achieve the desired goals may become even more challenging.

Vineyards from mild temperature, high humidity locations receive often treatments with fungicides to prevent damages produced by fungi responsible for mildium, oidium and botrytis infections. In addition, insecticides are also applied to vineyards to fight again pests, which affect directly, or indirectly (as vectors of different diseases), their productivity. A fraction of the above compounds reaches the soil of vineyards, either during application, or when released from the canopy of vines due to rain-wash-off. Thereafter, depending on soil conditions (pH, organic matter) and environmental variables (regimen of rain, slope of vineyards), they might persist in this compartment, be degraded and/or transferred to water masses, modifying the biodiversity of soils and/or affecting the quality of water reservoirs.

Regionality, frequently called terroir, is often used to market wines from different locations. Savatiano (Vitis Vinifera L.), is the dominant indigenous variety of the Mesogeia – Attiki region, reaching a percentage of 70% of the total vine cultivation, and being the most widely planted variety in Greece. In this context, this research focuses on the evaluation of the impact of different terroirs within the PGI Attiki zone on the aromatic profile of Savatiano.

The vineyards extending between the hillslopes of ‘Apremont’ and ‘Les Marches’ that dominate the valley of Chambéry (Savoie, French Alps) define the terroir of the ‘Vins des Abymes’.

Wine grapes exposed to wildfire smoke have resulted in wines with burnt and ashy sensory characteristics¹, that are undesirable qualities in wine. In extreme wildfire events, this can lead to total loss of grape crop. Currently there are no effective solutions in the market to prevent the uptake of smoke compounds into grapes. In this study, previously developed innovative film coatings were tested to analyze their effectiveness in reducing smoke phenol absorption². Four different cellulose nanofiber-based film types were investigated.