Terroir 2012 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Geostatistical analysis of the vineyards in the canton of Geneva in relation to soil and climate

Geostatistical analysis of the vineyards in the canton of Geneva in relation to soil and climate

Abstract

Soil and climate maps at the 1:10000 scales exist for more than 12’000 ha of Swiss vineyards. The use of these maps as consulting tools for growers remains difficult due to the complexity of the relationship between terroir and the large number of grape varieties planted. The current distribution of varieties and rootstocks is the result of a long optimization process. This study aims at analyzing the relationships between grape varieties, soil characteristics and climatic conditions.
The study was performed on the 1365 ha of Geneva’s vineyards with 3885 digitalized parcels. The 19 grape varieties planted on at least 5 ha were matched with the soil and potential radiation maps. The surface of each variety-soil combination and the mean radiation were calculated for each parcel.

The analysis showed that grape varieties were primarily planted according to meso-climatic conditions. Late ripening varieties, like Syrah or Merlot, were always planted on parcels receiving higher amounts of radiation than those planted with Pinot noir or Gamaret. Minimum radiation was calculated for each variety. Traditional grape varieties (e.g. Gamay or Chasselas) were planted in all meso-climates, indicating that the warmest plots were not judged to be too warm for early varieties. Regarding soil characteristics, early varieties were more present on BRUNISOL, which mainly represented flatter areas of the vineyards (10 % mean slope) and late varieties on steeper areas (mainly CALCOSOL with 16 % mean slope).
The present study revealed actual practices and criterions used by growers to make planting decisions. It might indicate minimum climatic and soil requirements for a given variety in the canton of Geneva. Continued monitoring may show the adjustments made by the growers to correct unsuccessful planting decisions. The analysis of these adjustments provides useful information for vineyard consultants.

DOI:

Publication date: October 1, 2020

Issue: Terroir 2012

Type: Article

Authors

Stéphane BURGOS, Elisabeth FORTIER

École d’Ingénieurs de Changins, rte de Duiller 50, 1260 Nyon

Contact the author

Keywords

grape varieties, soil, climate, terroir, SIG, geostatistic, Geneva

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2012

Citation

Related articles…

Phenolic extraction during fermentation as affected by ripeness level of Syrah/R99 grapes

L’extraction phénolique au cours de la fermentation à partir de vendanges de différents degrees de maturité du cépage Syrah/R99 a été etudiée. Cette travail fait parti d’un projet focalisé sur la qualité du raisin et des vins obtenus au cours du millésime 2002. Les vignes sont situées à Stellenbosch (Afrique du Sud) sur un sol Glenrose

Veraison as determinant for wine quality and its potential for climate adapted breeding

The evaluation of new grapevine genotypes regarding their potential to produce high quality wines is the time limiting factor in the process of grapevine breeding. Hence, the development of quality-related markers useable in marker-assisted selection (MAS) as well as in prediction models for this bottleneck trait will tremendously enhance breeding efficiency. In extensive studies a training set of a segregating white wine F1 population (150 F1 genotypes = POP150; `Calardis Musqué´ x `Villard Blanc´) was deeply phenotyped and genotyped for model development and QTL analysis.

Applications of FTIR microspectroscopy in oenology: shedding light on Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell wall composition and autolytic capacity

Many microbial starters for the alcoholic and malolactic fermentation processes are commercially available, indicated for diverse wine styles and quality goals. The screening protocols cover a wide range of oenologically relevant features, although some characteristics could also be studied using underexplored powerful techniques. In this study, we applied Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy [1,2] to compare the cell wall biochemical composition and monitor the autolytic process in several wine strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The vine and the hazelnut as elements of characterization of a terroir

The research examines how two characteristic cultivations of a territory like the vine and the hazelnut shape the identity of a unique terroir: Langhe (North West italy).

Application of fluorescence spectroscopy with multivariate analysis for authentication of Shiraz wines from different regions

Aim: To investigate the possibility of utilising simultaneous measurements of absorbance-transmittance and fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (A-TEEM) combined with chemometrics, as a robust method that gives rapid results for classification of wines from different regions of South Australia according to their Geographical Indication (GI), and to gain insight into the effect of terroir on inter regional variation.