Viticultural suitability of São Joaquim, Santa Catarina state, Brazil

Abstract

São Joaquim (28º17’38 “S and 49º55’55” O) is a viticultural region located on the Santa Catarina Plateau, south region of Brazil, which is known for vineyards that produce fine wines from grapes cultivated at altitude (> 900 m). It is amongst the coldest (annual average of 13.42 ºC, 1832.36 hours of solar radiation and 1680.23 mm of precipitation) and the highest (715 – 1638 m) Brazilian’s viticultural regions, with hilly relief (43% of slopes between 20 – 45% of declivity, with no preferred direction). The geology of São Joaquim is composed by volcanic rocks (mostly low-Ti basaltic andesites, dacites and rhyolites, with some high-Ti basaltic sills). The majority of soils are Humic and Haplic Cambisol (Humudepts and Distrudepts), both with high levels of Al⁺³ (> 4 cmol_c/kg) and high activity of the clay fraction (> 20 cmol_c/kg), and Leptosol (Udorthents). Some correlations between soil type and the source rock can be traced: basaltic andesites produce a deeper soil with pH of 5.52, while dacites and rhyolites produce a shallow soil with pH of 4.68. Using a multicriterial analysis we were able to identify a total area of 77.45 km² of land with the best conditions for viticulture in São Joaquim: slopes between 3 – 20% of declivity, facing north and > 900 m of altitude, with soils derived from basaltic andesites. All those characteristics point to São Joaquim region as a high potential area for national and international fine wine production. As all the other young viticultural regions, many studies need to be conducted in order to define the terroir of the region.