Terroir 2016 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Understanding and managing wine production from different terroirs

Understanding and managing wine production from different terroirs

Abstract

A « terroir » is a cultivated ecosystem in which the vine interacts with the soil and the climate. Main climatic parameters include temperature, rainfall and reference evapotranspiration. Vine phenology and grape ripening is mainly driven by air temperature, but also by soil temperature. Soil provides water and minerals to the vine, in particular nitrogen. Over the past decades, tools have been developed to quantify terroir parameters. Small scale weather stations can yield temperature data at high resolution which can be used to provide refined maps of temperature summations. Models have been developed to predict phenology in relation to temperature. Vine water status can be assessed with a pressure chamber, or by means of carbon isotope discrimination measured on grape sugar (so-called δ13C). Vine nitrogen status can be assessed with the measurement of yeast available nitrogen (YAN). In this way, terroir parameters can not only be measured but also mapped. This approach allows precise vineyard management to optimize terroir expression, through plot selection, the choice of appropriate plant material in relation to soil and climate, vineyard floor management, fertilization and training system.

Download the PDF

DOI:

Publication date: June 23, 2020

Issue: Terroir 2016

Type: Article

Authors

Cornelis VAN LEEUWEN, Jean-Philippe ROBY and Laure de RESSEGUIER

Bordeaux Sciences Agro, ISVV, UMR EGFV, 33882 Villenave d’Ornon, France

Contact the author

Keywords

terroir, climate, soil, temperature, water status, nitrogen status, phenology, modeling, vineyard management, plant material

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2016

Citation

Related articles…

Oenological features of Sangiovese wine from vinification of whole grape berries

The present study was performed in a traditional winery located in the viticultural area of Brunello di Montalcino, Siena, Italy, in the vintage 2015. Actually, in this winery Sangiovese grape musts are fermented in large oak barrels by a single strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae previously isolated in the same winery. Pumping over operations are carried out once or twice a day until the end of alcoholic fermentations. The aim of this work was to investigate on the oenological properties of Sangiovese wine produced with the traditional winemaking process adopted by the winery under study obtained from the fermentation of whole berries compared to that from crushed grape must. In particular, two lots of 65q of Sangiovese grapes from the same 3ha vineyard were vinified in 150hL oak barrels.

Read More

Investigating the Ancient Egyptian wines: The wine jars database

In Ancient Egypt, wine was a luxury product consumed mainly by the upper classes and the royal family and offered to gods in daily religious rituals in the temples.
Since the Predynastic (4000-3100 BC) period, wine jars were placed in tombs as funerary offerings. From the Old Kingdom (2680-2160 BC) to the Greco-Roman (332 BC-395 AD) period, viticulture and winemaking scenes were depicted on the private tombs’ walls. During the New Kingdom (1539-1075 BC), wine jars were inscribed to indicate: vintage year, product, quality, provenance, property and winemaker’s name and title.

Read More

Conservation: the best valorisation strategy for wine growing areas

Terroir encompasses many elements, including environment, grapes and human inputs that together contribute to the final wine quality of a certain wine growing area.

Read More

The state-of-the-art of grapevine biotechnology and new breeding technologies (NBTS)

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

Read More

Les outils pour favoriser le renouvellement des générations en viticulture

French lawmakers have chosen the family-type winegrowing business as the benchmark for drafting the legal framework for winegrowing businesses and winegrowers. In france (source: msa), in 2022, there were 1,444 new winegrowers, an increase of 3% compared with 2021, representing 10% of new farm managers. The retention rate for winegrowers is 75% (up 13% on 2021), compared with 77% for all agricultural sectors (stable).

Read More