A study on the oenological potentiality of the territory of a cooperative winery in Valpolicella (Italy)

A 3-year zoning study promoted by the Cooperative Winery Valpolicella (Negrar, Verona, Italy) was carried out on a wine territory of about 500 ha. The aim was to individuate the oenological potential of the vineyards of associated growers in order to improve in general the quality of the wines and in particular to increase the production of premium wines (Amarone and Recioto). The zoning will be also used to apply differentiate payments of the grapes to the associated growers according to the production areas. On the basis of the results obtained from 12 reference vineyards it was possible to individuate zones at high and low oenological potential and to suggest a partition of the territory on the basis of the global performance of the vineyards taking into account 3 elements of economical relevance: yield, wine quality and technological quality of the grapes (drying aptitude).