Terroir 2010 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 The landscape of wine as an expression of cultural transversality

The landscape of wine as an expression of cultural transversality

Abstract

[English version below]

Il mondo del vino si è accorto che per la sua comprensione, valorizzazione e promozione è fondamentale conoscere le ragioni geologiche del vino, valutare il suo impatto sul paesaggio e acquisire il suo valore emozionale. Si aprono, pertanto, nuovi orientamenti culturali nella gestione enologico-enografica dei luoghi del vino: geologia e vino, geografia emozionale, il paesaggio d’arte nelle aree DOC/DOCG, il ruolo geologico nell’etichetta, ecc. sono i valori aggiunti al terroir nella conoscenza e comunicazione del vino. Il paesaggio del vino è un paesaggio emozionale che racconta la storia geologica dei luoghi alla base delle caratteristiche organolettiche dei vini ed espressione di quel paesaggio geologico del passato che oggi è invisibile, ma il cui ruolo è stato fondamentale per l’evoluzione di un determinato terroir.
Nel Grand Tour dell’800, inoltre, il Viaggio in Italia di Goethe è un percorso letterario ed artistico attraverso anche i paesaggi del vino che diventano il filo conduttore nella narrazione dei luoghi. Tutto questo rientra in quella trasversalità culturale che vede coinvolti scienziati, pittori, poeti, scrittori, ecc. in un ambito disciplinare, solo apparentemente di settore, ma assolutamente condivisibile e proprio per questo di grande impatto culturale.
Il terroir, quindi, va oltre le sue usuali definizioni tecniche, e coinvolge ambiti disciplinari diversi per una sua acquisizione e visione sempre più ampia e integrata.

The world of wine has come to realize that for its understanding, appreciation and promotion is it crucial to foster knowledge on the “geological reasons” of wine, to evaluate its impact on the landscape, and to acquire its emotional value. The roads of wine cannot be divorced from the geological and geo-morphological features of the terroirs within the DOC/DOCG areas, from the local cultural values and local traditions, from the emotions of the places, and from a variery of elements and parameters that can reach far from the vineyard the cellars.Thus, new cultural trends open up for the enologic and oenographic management of wine sites: the geology and wine, the emotional geography, the Fine Arts landscape of the DOC/DOCG areas, the geological information of the label, etc., are all added values to the terroir that pave the way to new scenarios for the knowledge and communication of wine. The landscape of wine is an expression of the past geological landscape, which is invisible today but played a fundamental role in the evolution of a given terroir. The wine landscape is an emotional landscape that tells the geological history underlying the characteristic organoleptic features of the wines; it is a specific and characteristic environmental scenario that is appreciated by the “geological reasons” of wine and by new compelling contents. In the 1800’s Grand Tour, for example, Goethe’s trip to Italy is a literary and artistic path that winds not only through the natural and monumental landscapes of the peninsula, but also through the landscapes of wine, associated to that historic moment of Italy as a thread in the narrative of places.All of the above fits a cultural transversality that spans scientists, painters, poets, writers, etc., in a disciplinary context that is only apparently sectorial, and that can be rather shared very successfully, achieving an extensive cultural impact. The terroir, thus, goes beyond its usual technical definition and involves various disciplinary areas contributing to its acquisition and to an increasingly broad and integrated vision.

DOI:

Publication date: December 3, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2010

Type : Article

Authors

Lucilia Gregori

Department of Earth Sciences, University of Perugia
Piazza Università 1, 06123 Perugia, ITALY

Contact the author

Keywords

Geomorphology, landscape, terroir

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2010

Citation

Related articles…

Local adaptation tools to ensure the viticultural sustainability in a changing climate

[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"...

Effect of partial net shading on the temperature and radiation in the grapevine canopy, consequences on the grape quality of cv. Gros Manseng in PDO Pacherenc-du-vic-Bilh

As elsewhere, southwestern France vineyards face more recurrent summer heat waves these last years. Among the possibilities of adaptation to this climate changing parameter, the use of net shading is a technique that allow for limiting canopy exposure to radiations. In this trial, we tested net shading installed on one face of the canopy, on a north-south row-oriented plot of cv. Gros Manseng trained on VSP system in the PDO Pacherenc-du-Vic-Bilh. The purpose was to characterize the effects on the ambient canopy temperatures and radiations during the season and to observe the consequences on the composition of grapes and wines. Two sorts of net were used with two levels of obstruction (50% and 75%) of the photosynthesis active radiation (PAR). They have been installed on the west side of the canopy and compared to a netless control. Temperature and PAR sensors registered hourly data during the season. On specific summer day (hot and sunny) manual measurements took also place on bunches (temperature) and in different spots of the canopy (PAR). The results showed that, on clear days, the radiation is lowered by the shade nets respecting the supplier criteria. The effects on the ambient canopy temperature were inconstant on this plot when we observed the data from the global period of shading between fruit set and harvest. However, during hot days (>30°C), the temperature in the canopy was reduced during afternoon and the temperature of the bunch surface was reduced as well comparing to the control. A decrease of the maturity parameters of the berries, sugar and acidity, was also observed. Concerning the wine aromatic potential, no differences clearly appeared.

1H-NMR-based Metabolomics to assess the impact of soil type on the chemical composition of Mediterranean red wines

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different soil types on the chemical composition of Mediterranean red wines, through untargeted and targeted 1H-NMR metabolomics. One milliliter of raw wine was analyzed by means of a Bruker Avance II 400 spectrometer operating at 400.15 MHz. The spectra were recorded by applying the NOESYGPPS1D pulse sequency, to achieve water and ethanol signals suppression. No modification of the pH was performed to avoid any chemical alteration of the matrix. The generation of input variables for untargeted analysis was done via bucketing the spectra. The resulting dataset was preprocessed prior to perform unsupervised PCA, by means of MetaboAnalyst web-based tool suite. The identification of compounds for the targeted analysis was performed by comparison to pure compounds spectra by means of SMA plug-in of MNova 14.2.3 software. The dataset containing the concentrations (%) of identified compounds was subjected to one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to highlight significant differences among the wines. The untargeted analysis, carried out through the PCA, revealed a clear differentiation among the wines. The fragments of the spectra contributing mostly to the separation were attributed to flavonoids, aroma compounds and amino acids. The targeted analysis leaded to the identification of 68 compounds, whose concentrations were significant different among the wines. The results were related to soils physical-chemical analysis and showed that: 1) high concentrations of flavan-3-ols and flavonols are correlated with high clay content in soils; 2) high concentrations of anthocyanins, amino acids, and aroma compounds are correlated with neutral and moderately alkaline soil pH; 3) low concentrations of flavonoids and aroma compounds are correlated with high soil organic matter content and acidic pH. The 1H-NMR metabolomic analysis proved to be an excellent tool to discriminate between wines originating from grapes grown on different soil types and revealed that soils in the Mediterranean area exert a strong impact on the chemical composition of the wines.

Current climate change in the Oplenac wine-growing district (Serbia)

Serbian autochthonous vine varieties Smederevka (for white wines) and Prokupac (for rosé and red wines) are the primary representatives of typical characteristics of wines and terroir of numerous wine-growing areas in Serbia. In the past, these varieties were the leading vine varieties, however, as the result of globalization of winemaking and the trend of consumption of wines from widely prevalent vine varieties, they were replaced by introduced international varieties. Smederevka and Prokupac vine varieties are characterized by later time of grape ripening, and relative sensitivity to low temperatures. Climate conditions can be a restrictive factor for production of high-quality grapes and wine and for the spatial spreading of these varieties in hilly continental wine-growing areas.
This paper focuses on the spatial analysis of changes of main climate parameters, in particular, analysis of viticultural bioclimatic indices that were determined for the purposes of viticulture zoning of wine-growing areas in the period 1961-2010, and those same parameters determined for the current, that is, referential climate period (1988-2017). Results of the research, that is, analysis of climate changes indicate that the majority of examined climate parameters in the Oplenac wine-growing district improved from the perspective of Smederevka and Prokupac vine varieties. These studies of climate conditions indicate that changes of analyzed climate parameters, that is, bioclimatic indices will be favorable for cultivation of varieties with later grape ripening times and those more sensitive to low temperatures, such as the autochthonous vine varieties Smederevka and Prokupac, therefore, it is recommended to producers to more actively plant vineyards with these varieties in the territory of the Oplenac wine-growing district.

How can historical cultivars mitigate the effects of climate change?

IFV, INRAe and the national network “Partenaires de la Sélection Vigne” representing 37 organizations from the different wine regions, have been working increasingly closely over the last 2 decades towards the preservation of the French varietal patrimony. There are approximately 600 patrimonial varieties according to INRAe and SupAgro Montpellier experts, including ancient cultivars (400) and intravarietal crossbreeds obtained since the 19th century. In the context of a drastic reduction in such varieties from the mid 1980’s in favor of mainstream varieties, it was essential to carry out an inventory of old vines and vineyards. INRAe Vassal collection plays a key role here as it holds the largest diversity available, along with a rich bibliography and herbariums, offering us the opportunity to document and double check the identity of a cultivar, consolidating the expertise of ampelographers. The work is carried out in several stages, from verifying the existence of a variety in a small region, through to rehabilitation. During this session, the authors present the process that leads to the official registration of a variety. After this, IFV selection center takes over to initiate the process of selection and propagation. A specific focus within regions such as the Alps, Champagne and the South-West will provide details of the full procedure. Bia, Bouysselet, Chardonnay rose, Mecle and the aptly named Tardif, are some of the cultivars that have followed this procedure. Furthermore, a recent regulation established by INAO on “varieties of interest for adaptation purposes” might boost uptake by growers. Since 2006, 36 historical cultivars have been registered. Most of these have been neglected in the past due to late maturity, lack of sugar and high titratable acidity at harvest time. Such characteristics are today considered as positive qualities, not only in mitigation of the effects of climate change, but also as an opportunity for restoring diversity…