Terroir 2010 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Changing the scale of characterization of a wine area: from a single protected designation of origin to a vineyard Loire Valley observatory (viLVO)

Changing the scale of characterization of a wine area: from a single protected designation of origin to a vineyard Loire Valley observatory (viLVO)

Abstract

Terroir is increasingly important today in wine markets. In a large wine production area such as the Loire Valley, the whole territories/terroirs can be distinguished according to different combinations of geological, soil, climatic and landscape features but are also characterized by their differences and likenesses in terms of combinations of terroir units and practices.
The objective of the study is to obtain a systemic analysis of the typicality of wines conferred by the terroir in a large territory and identify which practices are associated with the production of typical wines in a given territory or a specific area of wine production.
In a previous work, a method was designed to identify some viticultural and enological practices that allow distinguishing wines at the scale of a PDO (Protected Designation of Origin1), in a small territory. The new challenge is to extend the method to the different sub-basins of the Loire Valley, and to check if the same results can be obtained for other types of wines. The extension of our method to study the practices of the winegrowers requires some adaptations before it may be applied on a larger scale as in a Vineyard Loire Valley Observatory. The choice of the strategy was to combine a small scale diagnosis with a participatory method with Research Development and Extension (RDE) officers to answer our questions and organize ViLVO.
We were thus able (i) to solve some problems such as the working organization of ViLVO users and databases property, (ii) to combine RDE officers and searchers goals around the identification of significant practices associated with wine quality and fame and (iii) to focus on outstanding practices involved in terroir typicality of Loire Valley wines.

Download the PDF

DOI:

Publication date: December 3, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2010

Type: Article

Authors

M. Thiollet-Scholtus (1), M. Badier (2), G. Barbeau (1)

(1) INRA, UE 1117, UMT Vinitera, F-49070 Beaucouzé, France
(2) Chambre d’Agriculture 41 Rue Gutemberg ZA 41140 Noyers sur Cher, France

Contact the author

Keywords

Practices, vineyard, scale, observatory, participatory method

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2010

Citation

Related articles…

Novel biorefinery step for grape marc valorisation: polysaccharides extraction by subcritical water

The exploitation of food by-products has garnered significant attention over the past few decades, particularly within the framework of the European Green Deal.
Read More

REVEALING THE ORIGIN OF BORDEAUX WINES WITH RAW 1D-CHROMATOGRAMS

Understanding the composition of wine and how it is influenced by climate or wine-making practices is a challenging issue. Two approaches are typically used to explore this issue. The first approach uses chemical
fingerprints, which require advanced tools such as high-resolution mass spectrometry and multidimensional chromatography. The second approach is the targeted method, which relies on the widely available 1-D GC/MS, but involves integrating the areas under a few peaks which ends up using only a small fraction of the chromatogram.

Read More

Vintage influence on Grenache N, Syrah N and Mourvedre N in Côtes du Rhône (France)

Vintage is part of « terroir ». The aim of this work is to study, through vine and berry parameters, the effect of vintage on the three major red grape varieties in Côtes du Rhône : Grenache N, Syrah N and Mourvedre N. We first characterized vintages 1997 to 2003, highlighting similar features in grape development across the different cultivars since 2001 only.

Read More

AGEING BOTTLED WINES SUBMERGED IN SEA: DOES IT IMPACT WINE COMPOSITION?

Aging wines is a common practice in oenology, which in recent years has undergone some innovations. Currently, we are witnessing the practice of aging bottled wine in depth, immersed in the sea or in reservoirs, for variable periods of time, but so far, little is known about the impact of aging in depth on the physicochemical properties, of wines.
The objective of this work was to evaluate the impact of this practice on the physicochemical characteristics, in particular to verify changes in the volatile composition of wines bottled and subsequently immersed in depth. A red wine from Cabernet Sauvignon was bottled and a set of bottles were submerged from July to February (2020), another set of bottles were submerged from February to September (2020) and another set was kept in the wine cellar. Bottles from each set were analyzed (in triplicate) in July 2021.

Read More

Chemical and sensory quality, environmental sustainability, and consumer acceptance of South Tyrolean wines produced from hybrid grape varieties

Disease-resistant hybrid grape cultivars (DRHGCs) are hybrids of Vitis vinifera varieties with other Vitis species, and they are endowed with greater resistance to specific fungal diseases, enabling a potential reduction in the application of pesticides in the vineyard.

Read More