Terroir 2012 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 International Terroir Conferences 9 Terroir 2012 9 Grapegrowing soils 9 Soil chemistry as a measure of the distinctiveness of american viticultural areas of the Columbia basin, USA

Soil chemistry as a measure of the distinctiveness of american viticultural areas of the Columbia basin, USA

Abstract

The Columbia Basin, a semi-arid region centered in the eastern part of Washington State, is the second largest wine grape growing region in the United States and presently contains 10 American Viticultural Areas (AVAs). Eight of the Columbia Basin’s AVAs are smaller subdivisions (sub-AVAs) of the 46,100 km2 Columbia Valley AVA. Although legally distinct, the Columbia Basin AVAs are generally similar with regard to climate, landscape, and soils, the principle components of physical terroir.

To test whether the AVAs of the Columbia Basin are distinguishable based on the chemical properties of their soils, 53 samples were collected from vineyards considered to be representative within their respective AVAs. Sampled locations within each vineyard were selected as typical based on the advice of resident viticulturalists. Vineyard soils from the Willamette Valley and Snake River Valley, which are other major viticultural regions of the Pacific Northwest, were also sampled for comparison.

Soils were sampled from a depth of 50-75 cm and analyzed for bulk chemistry and plant-available nutrients. The analyses revealed that, of the 10 AVAs, only the Columbia Gorge, Walla Walla Valley, and Lake Chelan AVAs have distinct differences that could be attributed to variations in climate and parent material. Columbia Basin soils could be readily distinguished from vineyard soils of the Willamette Valley and Snake River Valley based on compositional differences that result primarily from variations in soil parent material and climate-controlled rates of weathering.

DOI:

Publication date: August 28, 2020

Issue: Terroir 2012

Type: Article

Authors

Kevin POGUE, Erica PITCAVAGE

Department of Geology, Whitman College, 345 Boyer Ave., Walla Walla, WA 99362 USA

Contact the author

Keywords

Columbia Basin, Columbia Valley, soil, chemistry, Pacific Northwest.

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2012

Citation

Related articles…

La viticoltura veneta in un contesto di città e industria diffusa: per una lettura integrale del paesaggio della collina pedemontana veronese orientale

l Veneto, come è noto, rappresenta una delle estensioni di superfici a vigneto più importanti in Italia e nell’Europa stessa. Il paesaggio viticolo fino ad oggi è stato ampiamente letto nelle sue componenti

Méthode et outils de valorisation des terroirs en cave coopérative

Depuis le début des années 90, les vignerons des Caves Coopératives de l’Appellation “Côtes du Rhône” se sont penchés, au sein des structures de réflexion du Syndicat Général, sur deux axes de réflexion:
– Détermination des critères de sélection et de rémunération différenciée des apports de vendange;
– Organisation des sélections de vendanges sur la base des terroirs afin d’augmenter quantitativement le potentiel de sélection au sein de l’unité de production.

Neural networks and ft-ir spectroscopy for the discrimination of single varietal and blended wines. A preliminary study.

Blending wines from different grape varieties is often used in order to increase wine complexity and balance. Due to their popularity, several types of blends such as the Bordeaux blend, are protected by PDO legislation.

Exploring the behavior of alternatives to montmorillonite clays in white wine protein stabilization

Visual clarity in wines is crucial for commercial purposes [1]. Potential protein haze in white wines remains a constant concern in wineries, commonly addressed using bentonite [2].

Identification of green, aggressive and hard character of wines by a chemo-sensory directed methodology

With climate change, it is progressively more often to obtain grapes with an acceptable content in sugars or acids but with immature tannins described as green, aggressive or hard (noted as GAH onwards). During winemaking, the oenologist has to make decisions related to the elaboration of such grapes based mainly on empirical experience, given the lack of objective criteria to this concern. An increase in the chemical and sensory knowledge of immature tannins would allow managing this GAH character of grapes with the maximum possible efficiency during winemaking processes. The present work aims at isolating and identifying the group of compounds responsible for the GAH character present in wines.