Terroir 2016 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Defining the terroir of the Columbia gorge wine region, Oregon and Washington, USA using geographic information systems (GIS)

Defining the terroir of the Columbia gorge wine region, Oregon and Washington, USA using geographic information systems (GIS)

Abstract

The Columbia Gorge Wine Region (CGWR) extends for about 100km along the Columbia River and includes the Columbia Gorge American Viticultural Area (AVA) and the southwest portion of the Columbia Valley AVA. As of September 2013, the region is home to 82 vineyards, 513 hectares (1268 acres), 36 wineries and 41 different varieties of Vitus Vinifera, with Pinot Noir being the most widely planted grape variety in both AVAs. To better understand the physical factors affecting Oregon and Washington wine, this project analyzes the climate, topography, geology and soil at vineyards in the CGWR using Geographic Information Systems and existing earth science databases.

Vineyards range in elevation from 29 to 548 meters (95 to 1799 feet). The microclimates vary within this relatively small wine region, allowing for diversity in grape varieties planted. Three Winkler climate regimes are represented within the CGWR, including Regions Ia, Ib, and II from the Winkler Index (Jones et al., 2010). The average growing season temperatures range from 13.7°C (55.7°F) to 17.7°C (63.9°F) and the average growing degree-days range from 871 for °C (1567 for °F) to 1664 for °C (2994 °F). 58% of the vineyards are characterized within an intermediate climatic regime, 29% are within a cool climatic regime, 9% are within a warm climatic regime and 4% are on the boundaries between a cool, intermediate or warm regime. The growing degrees days calculated for the CGWR are similar to those measured in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, Burgundy, France, Umpqua Valley AVA, Oregon and Bordeaux, France.

All of the soils used to grow grapes are well drained and within a xeric moisture regime. 30 soil types are represented among the vineyard sites, with the Chemawa Series (Underwood Mountain) and Walla Walla Series (eastern portions) being dominant. Majority of the soils contain a silt loam texture, with 46.5% of the total vineyard acreage planted on soils formed in loess from eastern Washington and Oregon. The Missoula Floods influence the texture and age of the soil in this region, with skeletal textures close to the Columbia River and finer textures at higher elevations. Other common geological deposits at vineyards in the CGWR include, Quaternary Basalt (19.6%), Missoula Flood deposits (9.1%), The Dalles Formation (8.0%), Columbia River Basalt Group (7.5%), Pliocene Basalt (3.0%), Quaternary Surficial deposits (3.0%), lahars (2.3%) and Quaternary Basaltic Andesite and Andesite (0.9%).

Common geological deposits, soil series, and climate conditions at vineyard sites vary spatially in the region, making this one of the most diverse wine regions in terms of growing conditions in the Pacific Northwest.

Related articles…

Landscapes of the wine: the four seasons of herault

Les paysages participent à l’identité des vins de l’Hérault, avec une grande richesse de diversité. Leur observation, au travers des quatre saisons, s’appuie sur deux dimensions primordiales : la genèse de leur construction par l’homme et l’esthétique. L’hiver est la saison la plus favorable au décryptage de ce vignoble étagé, du littoral méditerranéen aux premières pentes du Massif Central; il permet de lire l’histoire des stratégies viticoles des vignerons. Les autres saisons sensibilisent plus à la beauté de vignobles dans des écrins de végétation typiquement méditerranéenne. La multiplicité des pratiques culturales et des cépages contribue à cet attrait. L’incitation au parcours, en toute saison, est très forte grâce au réseau des routes et des chemins de vigne.

In line monitoring of red wine fermentations using ir spectrospcopy

There has been a shift in modern industry to implement non-destructive and non-invasive process monitoring techniques (Helmdach et al., 2013).

SKIN AND SEED EXTRACTS DIFFERENTLY BEHAVE TOWARDS SALIVARY PROTEINS

[lwp_divi_breadcrumbs home_text="IVES" use_before_icon="on" before_icon="||divi||400" module_id="publication-ariane" _builder_version="4.19.4" _module_preset="default" module_text_align="center" text_orientation="center" custom_margin="65px||18px||false|false"...

Characterization of the adaptive mechanisms of grapevine rootstocks to iron deficiency induced by lime stress

Iron (Fe) deficiency is one of the important nutritional disorders for grapevine growing in alkaline and calcareous soils. Although Fe is an abundant element in soil, several factors limiting its availability, particularly the high levels of calcium carbonate or bicarbonate in soil, leading to a remarkable reduction in grapevine growth and productivity. The use of Fe chlorosis-tolerant rootstocks seems to be a cost-effective and efficient way to maintain Fe balance. Morphological and physiological changes occur in plants to cope with low Fe availability, including enhancement of ferric chelate reductase activity and altering root system by increasing lateral roots and root hairs.

Evaluation of wood starch content on bench grafting success rate in grapevine

Since the emergence of phylloxera, grafting has been the most used propagation method in viticulture. Despite all the improvement measures implemented in the nurseries, it is frequent that graft success rates vary depending on the nursery process and scion/rootstock combinations. The reasons behind this unsatisfactory behaviour are still unknown and can be diverse, although carbohydrate reserves might be hypothesised to be crucial, since callus, root, and new tissue formation will be built based on them. In order to identify the effect of carbohydrates on grafting success, nine combinations were established based on the starch content in grapevine scionwoods (cv. Tempranillo clone VN69) and rootstocks cuttings (110 Richter clone 237) used for grafting: Low (L), Medium (M), High (H).