Terroir effects from the reflectance spectra of the canopy of vineyards in four viticultural regions

The aim of this communication is the study of the Ronda and Arriate municipal territories environment in order to define and to establish the main physical factors in relation to vine-growing land use. The vine-growing zoning proposed is based on geopedological and climatic features.

Climate change impacts regional and local climates, which in turn affects the world’s wine regions. In the short term, these modifications rises issues about maintaining quality and style of wine, and in a longer term about the suitability of grape varieties and the sustainability of traditional wine regions. Thus, adaptation to climate change represents a major challenge for viticulture. In this context, island and coastal vineyards could become coveted areas due to their specific climatic conditions. In regions subject to warming, the proximity of the sea can moderate extremes temperatures, which could be an advantage for wine. However, coastal and island areas are particular prized spaces and subject to multiple pressures that make the establishment or extension of viticulture complex.
In this perspective, it seems relevant to assess the potentialities of coastal and island areas for viticulture. This contribution will present a spatial optimization model that tends to characterize most suitable agroclimatic patterns in historical or emerging vineyards according to different scenarios. Thanks to an in-depth bibliography a global inventory of coastal and insular vineyards on a worldwide scale has been realized. Relevant criteria have been identified to describe the specificities of these vineyards. They are used as input data in the optimization process, which will optimize some objectives and spatial aspects. According to a predefined scenario, the objectives are set in three main categories associated with climatic characteristics, vineyards characteristics and management strategies. At the end of this optimization process, a series of maps presents the different spatial configurations that maximize the scenario objectives.

Most oxidation reactions in wine require iron as a catalyst. The iron content of wine has decreased greatly in recent decades due to the use of low or no release cellar materials; however, in some cases it is still necessary to adopt winemaking practices to remove excess iron from wine, prevent its oxidation, and be able to reduce the addition of sulfur dioxide and other antioxidants.

 The manipulation of the genetic basis controlling grapevine adaptation and phenotypic plasticity can be performed either by classical genetics or biotechnologies.

Traceability of agro-alimentary products is very important to certify their origin. This work aimed to characterize wines obtained by the same cultivar (Nero d’Avola and Fiano) – grown in regions with different soil and climate conditions during three vintages (2003-2005) – employing isotopic analyses (NMR and IRMS) and sensory analyses.