A GIS Analysis of New Zealand Terroir

Abstract

This paper summarises a national survey of the geological setting of vineyards in New Zealand. We also provide an overview of climate, slope, aspect and varietals planted in New Zealand vineyards as a whole and for some individual regions.
New Zealand produces premium quality wines and its wine industry is growing rapidly. Growing degree days in the winegrowing regions range from 900 in cool Central Otago and Canterbury to over 1600 in the warmest region in the country, Auckland. Average growing season temperatures for the same regions range from approximately 14.3°C to 17.6°C. New Zealand vineyards are planted mainly on flat alluvial and glacial gravels with slopes of less than 3°. Rapid growth is pushing new plantings onto adjacent hillsides that are underlained by greywacke, schist and less commonly limestone. The expansion of the industry onto these different substrates will affect grape and wine characteristics; this provides significant opportunities to develop new styles of New Zealand ultra-premium wines

DOI:

Publication date: December 8, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2008

Type : Article

Authors

Stephen P. IMRE and Jeffrey L. MAUK

School of Geography, Geology and Environmental Science, University of Auckland, Private Bag, 92019 Auckland, New Zealand

Contact the author

Keywords

GIS, terroir, New Zealand, geology, soil, climate

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2008

Citation

Related articles…

Alimentary film to reduce cork taint and improve wine organoleptic quality

Wine quality may be compromised by mouldy off‒flavours related to cork taint. Although different compounds are considered to be involved in this wine defect, haloanisoles (HAs), and among them the 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA), are claimed as the main responsible.

Impact of pedoclimatical conditions on the precocity potential of vineyards in the canton of Geneva

Terroir studies are common nowadays but few have used precise pedoclimatic measures in order to evaluate the precocity potential. The objectives of this work were (i) to assess the effect of main terroir parameters (soil, climate and topography) influencing the phenological development of the vine, and (ii) to evaluate a geostatistic approach by using a high number of already existing plots (higher variability) to analyze the terroir parameters’ impact.

Untargeted LC-HRMS analysis to discover new taste-active compounds in spirits.

​For several years, the chemistry of taste has aroused high interest both from academics and industrials. Plant kingdom is a rich and reliable source of new taste-active compounds. Many sweet, bitter or sour molecules have been identified in various plants [1]. They belong to diverse chemical families and their sensory properties are strongly affected by slight structural modifications. As a consequence, the investigation of natural taste-active products in a given matrix appears as a major challenge for chemists. Such studies are particularly relevant in oenology since they allow a better understanding of wine and spirit taste.

Exploring the resistance of non-Saccharomyces wine yeasts to dehydration-rehydration processes

AIM: The use of non-Saccharomyces (NS) yeasts in multi-starter fermentations with S. cerevisiae is a trend in the wine industry, but the number of strains commercially available in a powder formulation, such as active dry yeasts (ADY), is still limited.

Effect of elicitors and ripening moment on the phenolic composition of Monastrell

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is a globally cultivated crop and economically significant, particularly in the wine industry (Varela et al., 2024). Climate change is already affecting vineyards and is expected to worsen (Averbeck et al., 2019; Dupuis and Knoepfel, 2011).