Terroir 2010 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 International Terroir Conferences 9 Terroir 2010 9 Historic and future climate variability and climate change: effects on vocation, stress and new vine areas (T2010) 9 Effect of vine nitrogen status on grape and wine quality: Terroir study in the Vaud vineyard (Switzerland)

Effect of vine nitrogen status on grape and wine quality: Terroir study in the Vaud vineyard (Switzerland)

Abstract

This study was conducted on soil-climate-plant relations (terroir) and their impact on grape composition and wine quality in the canton of Vaud by Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil ACW. An assessment of the vine nitrogen status on different terroirs was made by means of chlorophyll index, leaf nitrogen content and yeast assimilable nitrogen. Vine nitrogen status was observed to be highly related to soil type. Vines on the soil type “bottom moraines” showed lower vigour, smaller berries and a lower nitrogen status. Sensory analysis discriminated wines from different soil types. Vine nitrogen status through yeast assimilable nitrogen turned out to be strongly correlated with wine positive sensory descriptors and negatively correlated to wine astringency. In our study, the main environmental factors influencing vine development and wine quality was the soil type via its effect on vine nitrogen level. Our results confirm the role on nitrogen supply in grape and wine quality and underline nitrogen as a key factor in understanding the terroir effect.

DOI:

Publication date: December 3, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2010

Type: Article

Authors

J-S Reynard, V. Zufferey, F. Murisier

Agroscope Changins-Wädenswil ACW, CH-1260 NYON, Switzerland

Contact the author

Keywords

Soil component of terroir, vine nitrogen status, ecophysiology, grape and wine quality

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2010

Citation

Related articles…

Wine ageing: Managing wood contact time.

Barrel ageing is a transformative process that alters a wine’s organoleptic properties and consequently its price. Even though it is considered beneficial mostly for red wines, ageing can also be used for white wines but for shorter time periods. Due to barrel costs, space requirements and the markets’ demands for fast release of each new vintage, new products such as oak chips or shavings have been developed to help minimize the time needed for the extraction of essential wood compounds.

Ten grapevine rootstocks: effects on vegetative development, production and grape quality of cv. Mencia in the d.o. Bierzo (Spain)

Grapevine rootstock is basic to achieve good adaptation of the vine to ground and environment.

Teasing apart terroir: the influence of management style on native yeast communities within Oregon wineries and vineyards

Newer sequencing technologies have allowed for the addition of microbes to the story of terroir. The same environmental factors that influence the phenotypic expression of a crop also shape the composition of the microbial communities found on that crop. For fermented goods, such as wine, that microbial community ultimately influences the organoleptic properties of the final product that is delivered to customers. Recent studies have begun to study the biogeography of wine-associated microbes within different growing regions, finding that communities are distinct across landscapes. Despite this new knowledge, there are still many questions about what factors drive these differences. Our goal was to quantify differences in yeast communities due to management style between seven pairs of conventional and biodynamic vineyards (14 in total) throughout Oregon, USA. We wanted to answer the following questions: 1) are yeast communities distinct between biodynamic vineyards and conventional vineyards? 2) are these differences consistent across a large geographic region? 3) can differences in yeast communities be tied to differences in metabolite profiles of the bottled wine? To collect our data we took soil, bark, leaf, and grape samples from within each vineyard from five different vines of pinot noir. We also collected must and a 10º brix sample from each winery. Using these samples, we performed 18S amplicon sequencing to identify the yeast present. We then used metabolomics to characterize the organoleptic compounds present in the bottled wine from the blocks the year that we sampled. We are actively in the process of analysing our data from this study.

Grape seed powder as an alternative to bentonite for wine fining

PR proteins can cause haze in wines, and the risk is to keep the wine unsold. Generally, in winemaking bentonite solves this problem by removing proteins, but it is not a renewable resource, has poor settling, which means difficulty in filtering after use and a considerable loss of wine, it is not a specific adsorbent and may reduce aromas and flavor compounds

The evolution of the concept of geographical denomination in South America

Vers la fin du XX siècle, la vitiviniculture argentine a subi une profonde transformation qualitative atteignant toute la filière. L’analyse de l’évolution de la superficie des vignobles, l’élaboration des vins, la consommation et les exportations, permet de mettre en évidence ces changements. Dans ce contexte, l’origine apparaît comme un outil de force, d’expansion et de succès sur les marchés.