Terroir 2012 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 International Terroir Conferences 9 Terroir 2012 9 Ancient and recent construction of Terroirs 9 Vineyard soils and landscapes of the Burgundy Côte (France): a historical construction worth preserving

Vineyard soils and landscapes of the Burgundy Côte (France): a historical construction worth preserving

Abstract

The construction of vineyard landscapes along the Burgundy Côte is the result of geological processes and of human labour. Substratum diversity in this vineyard is the result of a very long history explained by the diversity of Jurassic sedimentary facies and Tertiary tectonic activity. The nature and thickness of Quaternary deposits (Weichselian scree debris and alluvial fans) reflect sediment dynamics concurrent with the last glaciation. As soon as humans started to occupy and cultivate these slopes, the changes they made in the land through crop development and roads began to structure the vineyard plots in a lasting way. The footprint of vine work in soils can be traced back over a millennium. It results mainly from a significant removal of stones when the land was first cultivated and from land management to fight against erosion (construction of retaining walls, transport of earth upslope, etc.). In recent centuries, the expansion of the vineyard follows a complex history (the phylloxera crisis, changes in the way quarries, in particular, were run). Today’s vineyard soils and landscapes are cultural objects that have been shaped over time. The mechanised labour linked to recent replanting cannot be allowed to destroy this natural and cultural heritage. The effects of trenching and other often irreversible actions (e.g. excessive embankments) affect both the visible landscape (the extension of plots and removal of drystone walls and mounds) and the invisible heritage (nature and diversity of soils, buried archaeological heritage). The people of Burgundy who are seeking recognition and listed status for the diversity of climats, their exceptional heritage, must consider the consequences of such practices in the medium and long term.

Publication date: September 25, 2023

Issue: Terroir 2012

Type: Article

Authors

Christophe PETIT1, Emmanuel CHEVIGNY2, Pierre CURMI3, Amélie QUIQUEREZ2, Françoise VANNIER-PETIT4

1 University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne UMR 7041 ArScAn, 3 rue Michelet, F-75006 Paris, France
2 University of Burgundy, UMR CNRS 5594 ARTeHIS, University of Burgundy, France
3 UMR CNRS Agrooécologie Dijon, University of Burgundy, Agrosup, INRA, France
4 Geologist, La Rente Neuve, F-21160 FLAVIGNEROT, FRANCE

Contact the author

Keywords

Vineyard soil, geological history, Burgundy, natural and cultural heritage

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir | Terroir 2012

Citation

Related articles…

Effects of urea and nano-urea foliar treatments on the aromatic profile of Monastrell wines

Foliar application of urea has proven to be an effective method for increasing the amino acid content in grapes, especially when the vineyard has additional nitrogen needs. These treatments can prevent problems of stucking fermentation during winemaking.

Effects of organic mulches on the soil environment and yield of grapevine

Farming management practices aiming at conserving soil moisture have been developed in arid and semiarid-areas facing water scarcity problems. Organic mulching is an effective method to manipulate the crop-growing microclimate increasing crop yield by controlling soil temperature, and retaining soil moisture by reducing soil evaporation. In this sense, the effectiveness of different organic mulching materials (straw mulch and grapevine pruning debris) applied within the row of a vineyard was evaluated on the soil and on the vine in a Tempranillo vineyard located in La Rioja (Spain). Organic mulches were compared with a traditional bare soil management technique (based on the use of herbicides to avoid weed incidence). Mulching coverages favourably influenced the soil water retention throughout all the grapevine vegetative cycle. However, the soil-moisture variation was not the same under different mulching materials, being the straw mulch (SM) the one that retained more water in comparison with grapevine pruning debris (GPD) based-cover. The changes of soil moisture in the upper surface layer (0–10 cm) were highly dynamic, probably due to water vapour fluxes across the soil-atmospheric interface. However, both, SM and GPD reduced these fluctuations as compared with bare soils. A similar trend occurred with soil temperature. Both organic mulches altered soil temperature in comparison with bare soil by reducing soil temperature in summer and raising it in winter. Moreover, the same buffering effect for the temperature on the covered soil also remains in the deeper layers. To conclude, we could see that organic mulching had a positive impact on soil-moisture storage and soil temperature and the extent of this effect depends on the type of mulching materials. These changes led to higher rates of photosynthesis and stomatal conductivity compared to bare soils, also favouring crop growth and grape yields.

Influence of pedoclimatic factors during berry ripening in Burgundy

Berry composition at ripeness can be explained by many factors. This study was carried out from 2004 through 2011 in a 60 block network in the Yonne region, Burgundy.

PAIRING WINE AND STOPPER: AN OLD ISSUE WITH NEW ACHIEVEMENTS

The sensory characteristics of wine are a topic studied by several researchers over time, but it continues to be a current and challenging subject. These characteristics are fundamental for the consumer acceptability, which has increasingly aroused their interest to modulate them in line with current market trends and innovation demands. The wine physical-chemical and sensory properties depend on a wide set of factors: they begin to be designed in the vineyard and are later constructed during the various stages of winemaking. Afterwards, the wine is placed in bottles and stored or commercialized.

Entomopathogenic nematodes application for controlling Lobesia botrana in grapevine and their impact on grapevine quality 

Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) are well-known biological control agents combined with specific adjuvants that now allow their use against aerial pests. Lobesia botrana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is one of the major harmful pests detected in worldwide vineyards. Previous studies demonstrated that the EPNs Steinernema feltiae and S. carpocapsae could control L. botrana. The hypothesis was that the best combination of EPN-adjuvant/timing (season/temperatures) will support the use of EPN in the vineyard against L. botrana with no impact on the grape performance.