Terroir 2010 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Soils, climate and vine management: their influence on Marlborough Sauvignon blanc wine style

Soils, climate and vine management: their influence on Marlborough Sauvignon blanc wine style

Abstract

Sauvignon blanc was first planted in Marlborough, New Zealand in the mid-1970s. Since that time, Marlborough has gained an international reputation by producing the definitive wine style of that grape variety. However, within the relatively small geographic region of Marlborough, distinctive sub-regional differences in flavour and aroma profiles are now being defined. For example, wines made from fruit grown in the lower Awatere Valley (30 km south of Blenheim) typically have higher herbaceous characters, associated with higher concentrations of iso-butyl methoxypyrazine (IBMP) when compared to wines made from fruit harvested at the same soluble solids in the Wairau Valley.
Experiments conducted over the past five years have investigated the extent to which these differences in flavour and aroma profiles are a reflection of soil, climate or management (in particular grape yield and harvest date). Fruit has been harvested at a soluble solids of 21.5 to 22.5 o Brix on each of five vineyard sites (four in the main Wairau Valley and one in the cooler Awatere Valley), and covering a range of soil types. Vines were either trained using a 2-cane or 4-cane vertical shoot positioning system at each site, to investigate the possible effect of vine yield. The higher yields resulted in a later harvest date (the date on which 21.5 o Brix was reached) at each site. In general this also resulted in lower IBMP concentrations in the wines.
The results from these experiments provide winemakers with an understanding of the effect of the interaction of site, grapevine yield and harvest date on Sauvignon blanc wine aroma and flavour profile, allowing them to express the sub-regional Marlborough “Terroir” of this wine.

Download the PDF

DOI:

Publication date: December 3, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2010

Type: Article

Authors

M.C.T. Trought (1), R.H. Agnew (1), J.S. Bennett (1), K. Stronge (1), W. Parr (2), M. Greven (1)

(1) The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Ltd
Marlborough Wine Research Centre
PO Box 845, Blenheim 7240, New Zealand
(2) Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences,
Lincoln University, PO Box 84, Lincoln 7647, Canterbury, New Zealand

Contact the author

Keywords

Marlborough, Sauvignon blanc, Terroir, thiol, methoxypyrazine

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2010

Citation

Related articles…

Drip irrigation and precision cooling reduce impact of extreme heat events during berry ripening

Context and purpose of the study. Heatwaves have become more frequent and intense in several winegrowing regions.

Read More

Evaluation of vineyards, fruit and wine affected by wild fire smoke

Wineries may randomly reject fruit from vineyards near wild fires exposed to smoke. It is difficult to determine if fruit has been compromised in quality when exposed to smoke

Read More

South American Creole grapevines: new varieties identified in the Caravelí Valley (Peru) and their aromatic profile

The valley of Caravelí (Peru) received the first vine plants in colonial times and the tradition of cultivation is maintained thanks to its terroir and artisanal techniques.

Read More

Preliminary characterisation of mannoproteins from different wine yeast strains and impact on wine properties

Mannoproteins (MPs) are released from the yeast cell wall during alcoholic fermentation and aging on the lees, and influence aspects of wine quality such as haze formation and colour stability. Yet, as this is a slow process with microbiological and sensory risks, the exogenous addition of extracted MPs poses an efficient alternative. While Saccharomyces cerevisiae has long been studied as a prominent source for MPs extraction, their structure and composition greatly differ between yeast species. This may influence their behaviour in the wine matrix and subsequent impact on wine properties. However, although wine yeast species other than S. cerevisiae possibly present an untapped source of MPs, they are still ill-characterised in terms of chemical composition and influence on wine.

Read More

The sensitivity to ABA affects the cross-talk between scion/rootstock in tolerant grapevines to drought stress

Drought caused by climate change has a dramatic incidence on the vineyard. Despite employing specific rootstocks tolerant to drought like 110 Richter, the vineyard continues to experience various losses, revealing the importance of the scion cultivar in the adaptation to drought stress. In this regard, Merlot, a widely cultivated grapevine, exhibited reduced drought tolerance compared to less cultivated varieties like Callet, a local cultivar originating from the Balearic Islands that demonstrated greater resilience to drought. Therefore, understanding the drought stress response in both cultivars and the cross-talk between scion and rootstock is key to unveiling possible differences that could affect to the adaptation to drought in vineyard.

Read More