Contribution of soil for tipifiyng wines in four geographical indications at Serra Gaúcha, Brazil

Brazil has a recent history on geographical indications and product regulation for high quality wines. The first geographic indication implemented was the Vale dos Vinhedos Indication of Procedence (IP), within the wine production zone named Serra Gaúcha, northeast of State Rio Grande do Sul. During the last decade, the Vale dos Vinhedos ascended to the category of Denomination of Origin (DO) and three new IPs were delimited in the same region: Pinto Bandeira, Altos Montes and Monte Belo. It is known that production of high quality wines depends on the interaction of environmental factors and human activities. At local scale, soil plays important role since several factors affecting grape and wine quality are related to soil properties. The objective of this study was to evaluate potential contributions of soil to differentiate between wines produced in each of the four geographic indications at Serra Gaúcha.

Material used included a digitized soil map in scale 1:50.000 of Serra Gaúcha and digital georeferenced boundaries of the geographic indications. Spatial analysis was done on ArcGIS software. A total of 23 soil mapping units were found. Results showed that both the DO Vale dos Vinhedos (15 mapping units) and IP Pinto Bandeira (13 mapping units) have a relative predominance of Inceptisols, with low natural fertility and low organic matter content. The IP Monte Belo (9 mapping units) presents near 50% of Ultisols, with low natural fertility and medium to high levels of organic matter. In the IP Altos Montes (11 mapping units) most soils are Inceptisols with low natural fertility and low organic matter content, as well as Oxisols with low natural fertility and medium level of organic matter. Due to the observed spatial variability, soil information can help to tipify and differentiate wines produced in each of the four geographical indications at Serra Gaúcha.