Effect of different canopy managements on microclimate and carbon allocation in Vitis vinifera cv Chardonnay

Aims: The aims of this study are to determine the influences of the local geology, mineralogy and geochemistry of surroundings, substrate and soil on the cultivation of vines, these as an additional factor of specificity and locality in the production of wine and definition of terroir, as well as for the discrimination of local variance of substrate and soil properties for the strategic management of cultivation plots and/or the evaluation of new cultivation regions, necessary within a scope of global climate change.

The notion of «terroir» refers to the link between the composition, quality and taste of a wine, on the one hand, and its place of origin, on the other. It involves, among other things, the signature of soil elements, as well as the influence of climatic conditions and plant material used. The composition of the wine is also influenced by the winemaking, storage and bottling processes. We were lucky enough to have a time series of the same champagne, from the end of the first world war to the present. On this exceptional time series, we followed, with the most advanced methods, all the elemental signatures by isotopic multi-dilution, the evolution of the isotopic ratios of heavy elements with very high precision of Sr, Pb, B and Cu.

The Priorat AOC, which is situated behind the coastal mountain range of Tarragona, is characterised by a Mediterranean climate that tends towards continentality and has very little precipitation during the vegetation cycle

The southern Côtes-du-Rhône vineyard shows a significant variety of ecological facets over the Lower Rhone Valley. Intending to characterize such a variety of “terroir “called vineyard situations, a spatial approach based on identification of soil landscapes has been initiated.

Enzymatic browning (BE) of must is caused by polyphenol oxidases (PPOs), tyrosinase and laccase. Both PPOs can oxidize diphenols such as hydroxycinnamic acids (HA) to quinones, which can later polymerize to form melanins [1], which are responsible of BE in white wines and of oxidasic haze in red wines. SO₂ is the main tool used to protect must from BE thanks to its capacity to inhibit PPOs [2]. However, the current trend in winemaking is to reduce and even eliminate this unfriendly additive. Among the different possible alternatives for protecting must against BE, the inoculation with a selected Metschnikowia pulcherrima MP1 is without any doubt one of the most promising ones.