Terroir 2012 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 International Terroir Conferences 9 Terroir 2012 9 Ancient and recent construction of Terroirs 9 Building of a hierarchy of wines based on terroirs: an initiative from the producers of Muscadet

Building of a hierarchy of wines based on terroirs: an initiative from the producers of Muscadet

Abstract

The Muscadet area is situated in the southeast of Nantes, close to the Atlantic coast. It constitutes the western extension of the French vineyard “Loire Valley”. The Muscadet is renowned and often spontaneously linked to a white wine.

However it remains misconceived as an ordinary wine, lacking authenticity. Proud of their wines, the Muscadet producers empowered themselves in an ambitious project dating back to the late 1980s. The essential aspects were established on: a fine selection of plots, distinctive vine growing practices and on a lengthening of wine maturation. This approach allowed them to rebuild the hierarchy of appellations, aimed at establishing strong “terroir” identification, which has led to the emergence of “crus communaux”.

The originality of the present study is twofold. First of all, it concerns implementing practical knowledge to identify the most capable fields to produce fine wines and to adapt oenological practices to express the variations of middle. Numerous questions need to be addressed, such as:

– what internal means does a vineyard have and which outside support mechanisms could the winegrowers successfully utilise to complete this step?

– The actors are also central to this study. How could so few innovators change the winegrowing process? And furthermore, how did the producers transform their vision about their natural environment, their knowledge base and their products? Finally, what are the features of these winegrowers, compared with the rest of the vineyard?

– The analysis is based on an intimate knowledge of the vineyard by the authors, coming from various scientific disciplines. Their account is established from a cartographic analysis on several levels. For example, on an enquiry questionnaire that included hundreds of winegrowers, and at meetings with the different actors who wanted to be part of this building process.

Publication date: September 21, 2023

Issue: Terroir 2012

Type: Article

Authors

Jean-Baptiste MOULENES, Christian ASSELIN, Dominique DELANOÉ, Raphaël SCHIRMER1,*

1 ADES UMR 5185 CNRS / Université Bordeaux 3,12, esplanade des Antilles 33600 Pessac

Contact the author

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir | Terroir 2012

Citation

Related articles…

The performance of grapevines on identified terroirs in Stellenbosch, South Africa

A terroir can be defined as a natural unit that is characterised by a specific agricultural potential, which is imparted by natural environmental features, and is reflected in the characteristics of the final product.

Is the consumer ready for innovative fruit wines?

AIM: Wine consumption in the last fifteen years showed a decrease in Europe [1]. New alternatives of wines appeared on the market. Those beverages are obtained by blending wines and fruit juices or flavoring wines with artificial or natural aromas and have medium alcohol content (from 8 to 10.5%) [2]. Recently, an innovative fruit wine has been proposed obtained by co-fermenting grape must and kiwi juice [3] whose potential attractiveness to consumers should be exploited. However, differences in product acceptability and perception, as well as the individuals’ willingness to consume and pay could change in function of subjects socio-demographic characteristics. The target group selected is represented by young adults (18-35 years old) consumption groups.

Observatoire Grenache en vallée du Rhône : démarche et premiers résultats après une année d’étude

Face à l’enjeu d’affirmer et de mieux comprendre la spécificité des vins en relation avec leur origine, la notion de « terroir », avec la richesse de sens et la diversité des perspectives qui l’éclairent, se révèle la clef de voûte de la production et de la valorisation de vins personnalisés et typiques. Asseoir la connaissance des principaux terroirs de la Vallée du Rhône sur des bases autres que celles, jusqu’alors essentiellement empiriques, invoquées dans la seconde grande région française productrice de vins d’AOC, constitue un projet conforme à l’intérêt voué à cet enjeu d’actualité.

Learning from remote sensing data: a case study in the Trentino region 

Recent developments in satellite technology have yielded a substantial volume of data, providing a foundation for various machine learning approaches. These applications, utilizing extensive datasets, offer valuable insights into Earth’s conditions. Examples include climate change analysis, risk and damage assessment, water quality evaluation, and crop monitoring. Our study focuses on exploiting satellite thermal and multispectral imaging, and vegetation indexes, such as NDVI, in conjunction with ground truth information about soil type, land usage (forest, urban, crop cultivation), and irrigation water sources in the Trentino region in North-East of Italy.

Machines and fire: developing a rapid detection system for grapevine smoke contamination using NIR spectroscopy and machine learning modelling

Bushfires are a common occurrence throughout Australia and their incidence is predicted to both rise and increase in severity due to climate change. Many of these bushfires occur in areas close to wine regions, which receive different levels of exposure to smoke. Wine produced from smoke-affected grapes are characterised by unpalatable smoky aromas such as “burning rubber”, “smoked meats” and “burnt wood”. These smoke tainted wines are unprofitable and result in significant financial losses for winegrowers.