Terroir 2012 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 International Terroir Conferences 9 Terroir 2012 9 Ancient and recent construction of Terroirs 9 The revision of the delimitation of the AOC “Champagne”

The revision of the delimitation of the AOC “Champagne”

Abstract

The Champagne vine-growing region has played a pioneering role in the delimitation of appellations of origin (AOC). The implementation of the Act of July, 22nd 1927 has led to drawing up lists of vine plots based on the criterion of vine cultivation antecedence.
After that, successive laws, especially the Acts of February 11th 1951 and November 16th 1984, have gradually helped to introduce technical criteria in correcting delimitation process.
The global reviewing of the Champagne appellation area was first opened to secure its boundaries and prevent it from being gradually undermined. Today, we have come very close to full exploitation of land currently classified in AOC (In 2011, the planted surface reaches 34 157 ha, i.e. about 97% of the delimited surface estimated at 35280 ha), which raises the question of spatial extension of the vineyard. However, this extension should not be at the expense of quality and specificity of champagne. This is what is at stake in the global reviewing of the AOC.

Publication date: September 25, 2023

Issue: Terroir 2012

Type: Article

Authors

Édith TOULEMONDE LE NY1*, Marcel BAZIN2
1 Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualité, site d’Epernay, 43ter rue des Forges, 51200 Epernay
2 professeur émérite à l’université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne

Contact the author

Keywords

Appellation of Controled Origin for Champagne, delimitation process, plot-scale delimitation, core of “terroir”

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir | Terroir 2012

Citation

Related articles…

Phytosterols and ergosterol role during wine alcoholic fermentation for 27 Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains

Sterols are a class of the eukaryotic lipidome that is essential for the maintenance of the cell membrane integrity and their good functionality (Daum et al., 1998).

Transcriptomic and metabolomic responses to wounding and grafting in grapevine

Grafting plants uses intrinsic healing processes to join two different plants together to create one functional organism. To further our understanding of the molecular changes occurring during graft union formation in grapevine, we characterized the metabolome and transcriptome of intact and wounded cuttings (with and without buds to represent scions and rootstocks respectively), and homo- and heterografts at 0 and 14 days after wounding/grafting. As over-wintering, dormant plant material was grafted, we also characterized the gene expression changes in the wood during bud burst and spring activation of growth. We observed an asymmetrical pattern of gene expression between above and below the graft interface, auxin and sugar related genes were up-regulated above the graft interface, while genes involved in stress responses were up-regulated below the graft interface.

Moderate wine consumption – part of a balanced diet or a health risk?

Consumption of wine/alcoholic beverages remains a topic of great uncertainty and controversy worldwide. The term “no safe level” dominates the media communication and policy ever since population studies in 2018 [1,2] were published, which denied the existence of a J-curve and suggested that ANY consumption of an alcoholic beverage is harmful to health. The scientific evidence accumulated during the past decades about the health benefits of moderate wine consumption, were questioned and drinking guidelines considered to be too loose.

YEAST DERIVATIVE PRODUCTS: CHARACTERIZATION AND IMPACT ON RIBOFLAVIN RELEASE DURING THE ALCOHOLIC FERMENTATION

Light-struck taste (LST) is a wine fault that can occur in white and sparkling wines when exposed to light. This defect is mainly associated to the formation of methanethiol and dimethyl disulfide due to light-induced reactions involving riboflavin (RF) and methionine [1]. The presence of RF in wine is mainly due to the metabolism of yeast [2] which fermenting activity can be favoured by using yeast derivative products (YDPs) as nutrients. Nonetheless, a previous study showed the addition of YDPs before the alcoholic fermentation (AF) led to higher concentrations of RF in wines [3]. Due to the widespread use of YDPs in the winemaking process, this study aimed to understand the possible relation between the content of RF in wine and the YDP adopted as nutrient for AF.

Validating a portable ad-hoc fluorescence spectrometer for monitoring phenolic compounds during wine fermentation

Phenolic compounds are fundamental to wine quality, influencing its colour, mouthfeel, stability, and ageing
potential [1]. Their extraction and evolution during fermentation plays a crucial role in determining the final sensory
attributes and requires careful monitoring to guide winemaking decisions.