How the physical components of the terroir can differently intervene in French wines DPO definitions.Example of Côte de Nuits in Burgundy

European regulations describe what elements must be given in the specifications of DPO determination ; mainly production conditions, links between quality and products characteristics and the physical traits of the production area. These elements are given in the “link to terroir” paragraph relating natural and human factors, detailed product characteristics linked to the geographical area and at last interactions between product originality and the geographical area.
Analysing all these different paragraphs reveals that the relative importance of three aspects (history, namely the delimitated area for grapes harvesting, production know how and production usages) contribute differently according to the wine PDO. Besides, the delimitated area for grapes harvesting (defined as a component of the physical environment by IVO in Tbilissi in 2010) always relies on a precise field by field delimitation inside a larger scale production area. At last, the example “Côte de Nuits” in Burgundy shows that a parallel can be seen between the pyramidal organization of its different PDO and the relative weight of field delimitation in the production conditions.