Terroir 2010 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Assessment of environmental sustainability of wine growing activity in France

Assessment of environmental sustainability of wine growing activity in France

Abstract

To meet the demand of assessment tool of vine growers and their advisers we adapted to the vine production the INDIGO® method to developed initially for arable farming. This article aims to assess the feasibility and the robustness of the INDIGO® Indicators multi-criteria method of environmental assessment.
INDIGO® indicators of sustainability were built based on different aggregation methods of winegrowers practices and field characteristics. Indicators were tested in Alsace, Champagne, Burgundy, Jura vineyards for northern climate and four vintages (2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003) and Loire Valley vineyards for oceanic climate for 2008 vintage. Four viti-ecological indicators -I-pesticide, I-energy, I-nitrogen and I-organic-matter – were adapted from arable farming. And two viti-ecological indicators – I-soil-cover and I-frost– were created for vineyards. The six indicators were tested in Northern French vineyards and three of them -I-pesticide, I-energy and I-soil-cover- were adapted to oceanic conditions of vineyard production and calculated with 2008 data. INDIGO® viti-ecological indicators were successfully tested in several French vineyards illustrated the large variations between vineyards in rain intensity, fungi attack and winegrowers practices. The results leads us to that these INDIGO® viti-ecological indicators are robust and can be used in all vineyards.

DOI:

Publication date: December 3, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2010

Type: Article

Authors

M. Thiollet-Scholtus , G. Barbeau (1), A. Tonus (1), C. Bockstaller (2)

(1) INRA, UE 1117, UMT Vinitera, F-49070 Beaucouzé, France
(2) INRA, UMR 1121 Nancy-Colmar Agronomie-Environnement, F-68021 Colmar, France

Contact the author

Keywords

Practices, vineyard, environment, assessment, decision aid tool

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2010

Citation

Related articles…

Carbon footprint in Austrian viticulture – Evaluation of the main polluters and possible solutions in entire the production chain

The sustainability certification ‘nachhaltig austria’ (www.sustainableaustria.com) has been offered to austrian wineries in an online version for 10 years and over 25% of the austrian wine-growing area is now certified. Since the 2022 harvest, ‘nachhaltig austria’ has automatically calculated the carbon footprint for each winery, per hectare of vineyard, per litre of bulk wine and per 0.75-litre bottle (poelz, w. And rosner, f.g. 2023). In last year’s publications and numerous presentations at national and international level, topics such as refilling glass bottles, lightweight glass bottles, renewable energy, … Etc.

Anthocyanins Chemistry During Red Wine Ageing

Anthocyanins are the main pigments present in young red wines, being responsible for their intense red color. These pigment in aqueous solutions occur in different forms in equilibrium that are dependent on the pH

The smoking gun of climate change in wines

In this audio recording of the IVES science meeting 2022, Antonio Graca (Sogrape, Portugal) speaks about smoke taint and climate change. This presentation is based on an original article accessible for free on IVES Technical Reviews.

Evaluation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains from honey by-products by their performance as starters in the wine industry

AIM: Recent studies on yeast ecology of non-oenological niches have highlighted the ability of some Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeasts to ferment grape must [1]

Revisiting the effect of subsurface irrigation and partial rootzone drying on canopy size and yield of Cabernet Sauvignon using remote sensing techniques

Irrigation is an essential tool for grape production, especially where rainfall does not meet the optimal water requirements needed to achieve yield and quality targets. Increased evaporative demand of grapevines due to changing climate conditions, and a growing awareness for sustainable farming, require the improvement of irrigation techniques to maximize water use efficiency, i.e. using less water to achieve the same yields or the same water but larger yields. In this study, the performance of Cabernet Sauvignon vines was compared under three irrigation techniques: conventional aboveground drip irrigation, subsurface irrigation installed directly under the vine row, and partial rootzone drying in which two subsurface lines were buried in the middle of the two interrow spacings on each side of the vine row with irrigation alternated between the two lines based on soil moisture content.