Terroir encompasses many elements, including environment, grapes and human inputs that together contribute to the final wine quality of a certain wine growing area.
From the actual market situation, a clear trend has being emerging in the last years: only a small part of the total wine demand is oriented to high quality wines, the consumer being more oriented towards the medium-low cost wines. Thus, on one side there are the ancient and prominent winegrowing areas yielding high quality wines, where any aspect of the terroir (soil, climate, autochtonous varieties, tradition, landscape) must be valorised. On the other one, there is a new viticulture model spreading in less renowned areas where the traditions are not so deep-seated and where mechanical vineyard management is prevalent.
Considering the evident difference between these two terroirs, it becomes necessary to identify the key elements for each of them and to define their relative significance on wine global quality.
The preservation and valorisation of each single terroir component is the first step to best promote both these viticultures an their products.
Authors: DIEGO TOMASI, Federica GAIOTTI, Gianni FILA
CRA-VIT, Center for Research in Viticulture, Viale 28 Aprile 26, Conegliano (TV), ITALY
Email: diego.tomasi@entecra.it
Keywords: terroir, climate, soil, landscape