“Terroir” and climate change in Franconia / Germany

Abstract

Franconia which is a “cool climate” winegrowing region is well known for its fruity white wines. The most common grape cultivars are Silvaner and Mueller-Thurgau.
Franconia is a landscape of contrasts with various climatic conditions. The vineyard sites are located at a height between 120 m and 420 m above sea level on slopes and steep slopes as well as on terraces.
In favourable south orientated sites the maximum temperatures reach about 40° C (peak value year 2003), while winter frosts cause deep temperatures down to about -27°C (year 2002) in valleys or exposed sites.
At present, the Franconian winegrowing region is being affected by the global climate change. Several forecasts predict an average annual temperature increase of approximately 2°C for Southern Germany until the year 2050. During the same period an increased occurrence of temperature-related extreme events is expected.
In case of permanent increase of the average air temperatures and temperature-related extreme events, the cultivation of grapes on E, W and NW slopes could be considered appropriate to preserve the fruity character of traditional white wines.

DOI:

Publication date: December 3, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2010

Type: Article

Authors

Ulrike Maaß, Arnold Schwab

Bavarian State Institute for Viticulture and Horticulture An der Steige 15, D-97209 Veitshöchheim

Contact the author

Keywords

Vineyard Climate, Climate change, Terroir, Topoclimate, Microclimate

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2010

Citation

Related articles…

Soil electrical resistivity, a new and revealing technique for precision viticulture

High resolution spatial information of soil electrical resistivity (ER) was gathered to assess the spatial variability patterns of vegetative growth of two commercial vineyards (Vitis vinifera L. cv.

Exploring the resistance of non-Saccharomyces wine yeasts to dehydration-rehydration processes

AIM: The use of non-Saccharomyces (NS) yeasts in multi-starter fermentations with S. cerevisiae is a trend in the wine industry, but the number of strains commercially available in a powder formulation, such as active dry yeasts (ADY), is still limited.

Evolution of several biochemical compounds during the development of Merlot wine in the vinegrowing “Terroir” of Valea Călugăreasa

The qualitative and quantitative distribution of the phenolic compounds in red wines depends on cultivars features, on grapes maturation state, on grapes processing technology including must obtention, as well as on maceration-fermentation method (Margheri, 1981). The last two factors are responsible for the different phenolic composition of the wines produced from the same cultivar.

High-resolution aerial thermography for water stress estimation in grapevines

Aerial thermography has emerged as a promising tool for water stress detection in grapevines, but there are still challenges associated with this technology, particularly concerning the methodology employed to extract reliable canopy temperature values. This consideration is relevant especially in vertically trained vineyards, due to the presence of multiple surfaces which are captured by drone thermal cameras with high-resolution. To test the technology and the data analysis required, a field study was conducted during the 2022-2023 season in a model vineyard with multiple scions-rootstock combinations trained on a vertical shoot-positioning (VSP) system. Additionally, three irrigation regimes were implemented to introduce variability in water stress levels.

Yeast mannoprotein characterization and their effect on Oenococcus oeni and malolactic fermentation

Mannoproteins are released at the end of alcoholic fermentation due to yeast autolysis [1]. It has been described a positive effect of these molecules on lactic acid bacteria growth [2]. The main objective of this work was the characterization of different mannoproteins extracted from active dry yeast (ADY) and the assessment of their effect on Oenococcus oeni and malolactic fermentation (MLF).