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.

Download the PDF

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…

La balance hydrique explique davantage la diversité intravariétale du titre alcoométrique du Merlot que l’accumulation des sucres

Dans le cadre de TerclimPro 2025, Charles Romieu a présenté un article IVES Technical Reviews. Retrouvez la présentation ci-dessous ainsi que l’article associé : https://ives-technicalreviews.eu/article/view/8506

Read More

The potential of some native varieties of Argentina for the production of sparkling wines. Effect of lees contact time 

Grapevine varieties from South-America, commonly known as criollas, originated because of the natural crossbreeding of grapevine varieties brought by the Spaniards. The objective of this work was to evaluate the potential of some varieties to produce sparkling wines considering the effect of lees contact time. The following varieties were used: Moscatel Rosado, Criolla Chica, Pedro Gimenez, Blanca Oval, Canelón, and the European variety Chardonnay (control), planted in the ampelographic collection of EEA Mendoza INTA (Argentina). Pilot-scale vinifications were carried out to obtain the base wines, in 20 L glass containers. The second fermentation was performed through the traditional method.

Read More

MODELLING THE AGEING POTENTIAL OF SYRAH RED WINES BY ACCELERATED AGEING TESTS: INFLUENCE OF ANTIOXIDANT ASSAYS AND PHENOLIC COMPOSITION

Red wine ageing is an important step in the red wine evolution and impacts its chemical and sensory characteristics through many chemicals and physico-chemical reactions. The kinetics of these evolutions depend on the wine studied and influence the wine ageing potential. Generally, high quality red wines require a longer period of bottle ageing before consumption¹. The ageing potential is an impor-tant parameter for wine quality and is related to the capacity of a wine to undergo oxidation over time². Phenolic compounds which are ones of the main substrates for oxidation can then potentially modulate ageing potential³.

Read More

Impact of reduction alcohol techiniques in the aromatic chemical profile of rosé Tempranillo wines

Studying the impact of reducing alcohol techniques in the chemical composition of the aromatic profile of rosé Tempranillo wines from the spanish region of Castilla-La Mancha INTRODUCTION: In the last decades there has been an increseasing demand of wines with low or non-existing alcohol concentration due to the negative effects that alcohol has in health. In spite of that, there are not laws that protect these products, and there is also a great difficulty in the elaboration of these type of wines due to the increasing temperatures because of climate change. This is why the oenological industry has made great advances in the development of different techniques that could satisfy consumers’ demands without modifying wine quality. The most used techniques have been post-fermentative ones.

Read More

Modeling from functioning of a grape berry to the whole plant

Grape quality is a complex trait that mainly refers to berry chemical composition, including sugars, organic acids, phenolics, aroma and aroma precursor compounds.

Read More