Terroir 2010 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Paysages viticoles et terroir dans l’OAC Ribeira Sacra (Galice, NO de l’Espagne)

Paysages viticoles et terroir dans l’OAC Ribeira Sacra (Galice, NO de l’Espagne)

Abstract

[English version below]

La notion d’Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC), repose sur l’existence d’un lien entre les caractéristiques du terroir et la qualité et la typicité de la production (DELAS, 2000). Si pendant longtemps, ce lien n’est apparu que comme le fruit de l’empirisme, les recherches entreprises dernièrement ont permis de fonder scientifiquement les relations complexes entre fonctionnement des milieux naturels et aptitude à une production de qualité.
L’aire d’AOC Ribeira Sacra s’étend sur presque 195 km au large des versants escarpés du Miño et du Sil, dans la Galice (Espagne). Cette AOC couvre presque 1100 hectares, soit 5,2% de la surface viticole galicien, produisant en moyenne 22000 hl du vin. Enfoncées de plusieurs centaines de mètres dans les vieilles surfaces d’aplanissement du massif ancien, les vallées du Miño et du Sil et les parties inférieures de certains de leurs affluents (Bibei, Cabe, Bubal et Mao), ont été découpées en un extraordinaire escalier de terrasses viticoles. Réservées à la viticulture –la vigne est souvent l’unique culture et lorsqu’elle n’existe pas, le versant est abandonné aux broussailles-, la construction de ces terrassettes (appelées “socalcos” par les paysans) a exigé un travail gigantesque de remodelage des versants et leur entretien demandait des soins constants.
Dans ces vallées en gorge, les terrasses viticoles occupent souvent tout le versant et encerclent les rares chicots rocheux qui n’ont pu être conquis. Ces terrasses, le plus souvent entaillées dans des roches granitiques, sont en effet de remarquables constructions: chaque “socalco”, qui suit les courbes de niveau sur des pentes qui atteignent parfois 45 degrés, est soutenu par un mur de pierre sèche et sa largeur est souvent si faible qu’il ne peut accueillir qu’une seule rangée de ceps (les gradins n’ont souvent plus d’un mètre de large). Ces terrasses constituent un exemple remarquable de formations anthropiques très effectives du point de vue de minimiser l’érosion du sol et de la formation de microclimats particulièrement adaptés aux besoins de la vigne.
Par leurs caractéristiques constructives on peut parler de véritables anthrosols. Du point de vue pédologique la région est bien homogène, même s’il y a quelques variations en raison des conditions particulières d’orographie, de la nature de la roche-mère (granites, gneiss, ardoises). Par contre, l’influence de l’altitude (200 à 450 m) et l’exposition (de l’ouest a sud-est) est évidente.
L’étude vise à caractériser les conditions climatiques, géologiques et pédologiques des différentes situations des vignobles d’OAC Ribeira Sacra, pour faire une première approximation à l’influence de l’altitude et l’exposition au zonage vitivinicole de l’AOC Ribeira Sacra.

The concept of Appellation d’Origine (AOC) is based on the existence of a link between the characteristics of the soil and quality and specificity of production grape and quality wine. This AOC include 1100 hectares (5.2% of the Galicia vineyard), planted on the valleys of the rivers Miño and Sil. The vine is planted in terraces, with different altitude (200-450 m) and exposition (west to southeast), example of anthropogenic formations very effective in terms of minimizing soil erosion and formation of microclimates particularly suited to the needs of vine. The area is divided into five sub-zones, with different edaphoclimate characteristics, Chantada, Amandi, Ribeiras do Miño, Ribeiras do Sil-Ourense, Quiroga-Bibei. The diversity of local climates allows to produce different type of cultivars, white (Albariño and Godello), as red (including Mencía, Brancellao and Merenzao).
This study aims to characterize the climatic conditions, geological and soil of vineyards of different situations from OAC Ribeira Sacra, to know the influence of altitude and exposure on wine characteristics.

DOI:

Publication date: December 3, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2010

Type: Article

Authors

Queijeiro J. (1), Vilanova M. (2), Rodriguez I. (1), de la Montaña J. (1)

(1) Sciences Faculty of Ourense, Edificio Politécnico, As Lagos s/n 32004. Ourense, Spain
(2) Misión Biológica de Galicia, Spain

Contact the author

Keywords

Ribeira Sacra, sols, pente, altitude, exposition
Mesoclimate, slope, bench terraces, altitude, exposition

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2010

Citation

Related articles…

First step in the preparation of a soil map of the Protected Designation of Origin Valdepeñas (Central, Spain)

This work is a first step to make a map of vineyard soils. The characterization of the soils of the Protected Designation of Origin (D.P.O.) Valdepeñas will allow to group the studied profiles according to their physico-chemical characteristics and the concentrations of most relevant chemical elements. 90 soil profiles were analysed throughout the territory and the soils were sampled and described according to FAO (2006) and classified according to and Soil Taxonomy (2014). All samples were air dried, sieved and some physico-chemical parameters were determined following standard protocols. Also, major and trace elements were analysed by X-ray fluorescence. The statistically study was made using the SPSS program. Trend maps were made using the ArcGIS program. The studied soils have the following average properties: pH, 8.3; electrical conductivity, 0,20 dS/m (low); clay, 18.8% (medium) and CaCO3, 17.1% (high). In the study for the major elements. The major elements of these soils are Si, followed by Ca and Al, with an average content of 203.7 g/kg, 105.5 g/kg and 74.0 g/kg respectively. On the other hand, 27 trace elements have been studied. Of all of them, it can be highlighted the average values of Ba (361.8 mg/kg), Sr (129.3 mg/kg), Rb (83.4 mg/kg), V (74.2 mg/kg) and Ce (70.6 mg/kg). Ba, V and Ce values are higher and the values of Sr and Rb are lower to those found in the literature. The discriminant analysis shows a percentage of grouping of 91%. The content of chemical elements together with the physico-chemical characteristics allows grouping the soils in 4 group according to their order in the classification to Soil Taxonomy; due to the importance of the Calcisols in Castilla-La Mancha, it has been decided to establish them as their own group even if they do not appear in Soil Taxonomy classification.

Elucidating vineyard site contributions to key sensory molecules: Identification of correlations between elemental composition and volatile aroma profile of site-specific Pinot noir wines

The reproducibility of elemental profile in wines produced across multiple vintages has been previously reported using grapes from a single scion clone of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Pinot noir. The grapevines were grown on fourteen different vineyard sites, from Oregon to southern California in the U.S.A., which span distances from approximately hundreds of meters to 1450 km, while elevations range from near sea level to nearly 500 m. In addition, sensorial (i.e. aroma, taste, and mouthfeel) and chemical (i.e. polyphenolic and volatile) differences across the different vineyard sites have also been observed among these wines at two aging time points. While strong evidence exists to support that grapes grown in different regions can produce wines with unique chemical and sensorial profiles, even when a single clone is used, the understanding of growing site characteristics that result in this reproducible differentiation continues to emerge. One hypothesis is that the elemental profile that a vineyard site imparts to the grape berries and the resulting wine is an important contributor to this differentiation in chemistry and sensory of wines. For example, various classes of enzymes that catalyze the formation of key aroma compounds or their precursors require specific metals. In this work, we begin to report correlations between elemental and volatile aroma profiles of site-specific Pinot noir wines, made under standardized winemaking conditions, that have been previously shown to be distinguished separately by these chemical analyses.

Climate modeling at local scale in the Waipara winegrowing region in the climate change context

In viticulture, a warming climate can have a very significant impact on grapevine development and therefore on the quality and characteristics of wines across different spatial scales, ranging from global to local. In order to adapt wine-growing to climate change, global climate models can be used to define future scenarios, but only at the scale of major wine regions. Despite the huge progress made over the last ten years in terms of the spatial resolution of climate models (now downscaled to a few square kilometres), they are not yet sufficiently precise to account for the local climate variability associated with such parameters as local topography, in spite of these parameters being decisive for vine and wine characteristics. This study describes a method to downscale future climate scenarios to vineyard scale. Networks of data loggers have been used to collect air temperature at canopy level in the Waipara winegrowing region (New Zealand) over five growing seasons. These measurements allow the creation of fine-scale geostatistical models and maps of temperature (at 100 m resolution) for the growing season. In order to model climate change at pilot site scale, these geostatistical models have been combined with regional climate change predictions for the periods 2031-2050 and 2081-2100 based on the RCP8.5 climate change scenario. The integration of local climate variability with regionalized climate change simulations allows assessment of the impacts of climate change at the vineyard scale. The improved knowledge gained using this methodology results from the increased horizontal resolution that better addresses the concerns of winegrowers. The results provide the local winegrowers with information necessary to understand current processes, as well as historical and future viticulture trends at the scale of their site, thereby facilitating decisions about future response strategies.

A predictive model of spatial Eca variability in the vineyard to support the monitoring of plant status

[lwp_divi_breadcrumbs home_text="IVES" use_before_icon="on" before_icon="||divi||400" module_id="publication-ariane" _builder_version="4.19.4" _module_preset="default" module_text_align="center" module_font_size="16px" text_orientation="center"...

Modeling the suitability of Pinot Noir in Oregon’s Willamette Valley in a changing climate

Air temperature is the key driver of grapevine phenology and a significant environmental factor impacting yield and quality for a winegrape growing region. In this study the optimal downscaled CMIP5 ensemble for computing thegrowing season average temperature (GST) viticulture climate classification index was determined to spatially compute on a decadal basis predictions of the GST climate index and the grapevine sugar ripeness (GSR) model for Pinot Noir throughout the Willamette Valley (WV) American Viticultural Area (AVA). Forecasts for average temperature and a 220 g/L target sugar concentration level were computed using daily Localized Constructed Analogs (LOCA) downscaled CMIP5 historic and Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) future climate projections of minimum and maximum daily temperature. We explore spatiotemporal trends of the GST climate classification index and Pinot Noir specific applications of the GSR phenology model for the WV AVA. Spatiotemporal computations of the GST climate index and Pinot Noir specific applications of the GSR model enable the opportunity to explore relationships between their computed values with one intent being to provide updated GST ranges that better align with current temperature-based modeling understanding of Pinot Noir grapevine phenology and the viticultural application of LOCA CMIP5 climate projections for the WV AVA. The Pinot Noir specific applications of the GSR model or the GST index with updated bounds indicate that the percent of the WV AVA area suitable for Pinot Noir production is currently at or near its peak value in the upper 80s to lower 90s of this century.