Assessment of environmental sustainability of wine growing activity in France

Planted between 2018 and 2019, the ‘New Vine’ system is a vineplot, comprising 169 individuals genotypes (5 vines/individual), located on a gravelous soil, in the INRAE Grande-Ferrade site (Villenave d’Ornon, France).

The wine sector is undergoing considerable transformation, particularly as a result of climate change and increasing consumer expectations for quality products, in a globalised and increasingly competitive market.

Sulla base del tema assegnatomi è stata forte la tentazione di addentrarmi nel labirinto della regolamentazione comunitaria. Per buona pace degli intervenuti ho ritenuto, pero, poco utile una elencazione di numeri e riferimenti normativi che saranno brevemente riassunti in una tabella (TAB 1),

Managing pests in vineyards presents a major challenge for winegrowers, who are seeking effective solutions to control diseases and pests.

Purpose of this research is to quantitatively assess the mineral component of vineyard soils, with particular attention to the mineralogical analysis of clays, which represent an element of high importance in the vineyard culture as well as in general agriculture. An X-ray diffraction (XRD) / thermogravimetric (TG) multi-technique analytical approach was developed, tested on soil samples taken from vineyards around the world. This codified analytical procedure was necessary to obtain precise qualitative and quantitative mineralogical data, globally comparable to distinguish the geopedological identity of the vineyards. Soil samples from vineyards of various locations were analysed, in very different geological conditions. The bulk-rock quantitative phase analysis (QPA) was obtained by the Rietveld method while the detailed composition of the clay-sized fraction was determined by modelling of the oriented X-ray diffraction patterns. The research provided a precise classification of the mineral component of soils, distinguishing the mineral phases of the clays and the so-called mixed-layer clay minerals. We found that the content in mixed layers can be directly correlated with the water retention and the cation exchange capacity ​​of the soil, while the presence of other clayey minerals and phyllosilicates in this research did not affect this CEC parameter, which codes the fertility level of the soils. The study demonstrates that terroir, in particular soils formed in complex or very different geological conditions, can only be effectively interpreted by properly analysing its mineral phases, in particular the mixed-layer clay component. These are characteristic abiotic ecological indicators, which may have specific eco-physiological influences on the plant.