Composition of grape grown on different Homogenous Terroir Units (HTU)

Abstract

This paper was based on the soil maps units from Ribera de Duero viticulture and wine Denomination of Origin that defined different Homogeneous “Terroir” Units (HTU) with potentially diverse oenological qualities. The main aim of this study was the study of possible correlations between HTU categories and the development and quality of the wine grapes cultivated on specified HTUs. Five vineyards from three different optimum HTUs were selected for this study. Selection criteria were grape variety, clone, rootstocks, age, training systems and cultural practices, trying to select the most similar vineyards.
Samples of 25Kg were manually harvested, from each one of the 15 selected vineyards. The grapes were harvest at the degree of technological maturity as similar as it was possible. Technological maturity is correlated with adequate levels of sugar, acidity and phenolic content, so that good sanitary stages and even good levels of aroma precursor compounds. So, composition of grapes was evaluated considering all these parameters, however this paper showed only partial results, showing levels of sugar, acidity variables (pH, titrable or total acidity and content of malic acid), and phenolic compounds (several phenolic families were considered: total polyphenols, anthocyanins, catechin and flavanol levels). This work will be completed with future studies that will be carried out in future vintages.
Obtained data showed that, even having a large variance among vineyards of the studied Homogeneous Terroir Units, was possible to detect significant differences on the composition and oenological quality of the grapes of each UHT.

 

DOI:

Publication date: December 8, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2008

Type : Article

Authors

M.L. GONZALEZ-SANJOSE (1), M.D. RIVERO (1), M. BLEOJU (1) and V. GOMEZ-MIGUEL (2)

(1) Department of Biotechnology and Food Science. University of Burgos. 09001 Burgos, Spain
(2) Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain

Keywords

Terroir, zoning, grape quality, soil units

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2008

Citation

Related articles…

Sensory impacts of the obturator used for the Chasselas: study over the time

Many parameters affect the organoleptic characteristics of wine: internal parameters like the chemical composition or polyphenol content and external as for example storage conditions or the type of obturator. The aim of this study was to characterize sensorally the impacts of several type of obturator on a white wine: Chasselas. To determine the organoleptic characteristics of this wine, a quantitative descriptive analysis could be used. But rapid sensory methods were preferred in this project. Indeed these methods are an appropriate alternative to conventional descriptive methods for quickly assessing sensory product discrimination.

Molecular characterization of a variegated grapevine mutant cv Bruce’s Sport

Variegation, a frequently observed trait in plants, is characterized by the occurrence of white or discoloured plant tissue. This phenomenon is attributed to genetic mosaicism or chimerism, potentially impacting the epidermal (L1) and subepidermal (L2) cell layers. In grapevine, variegation manifests as white or paler leaf, flower, or berry tissues, often leading to stunted growth and impeded development. Despite its prevalence, variegation in grapevines remains understudied.

Are biochemical markers the key to predicting wine aroma balance?

Wine aroma quality is a complex interplay of factors like terroir, vinification techniques, that modulate aroma compound composition.

Implementation of a deep learning-based approach for detecting and localising automatically grapevine leaves with downy mildew symptoms

Grapevine downy mildew is a disease of foliage caused by Oomycete Plasmopara viticola an endoparasite that develops inside grapevine organs and can infect virtually every green organ. Downy mildew is one of the most destructive diseases in wine-growing regions, drastically reducing yield and fruit quality. Traditional manual disease detection relies on farm experts. Human field scouting has been widely used for monitoring the disease progress, however, is costly, laborious, subjective, and often imprecise.

On the losses of dissolved CO2 during champagne aging

A misconception lingers in the minds of some wine consumers that Champagne wines don’t age. It’s largely a myth, certainly as far as the best cuvees are concerned. Actually, during the so-called autolysis period of time (in the closed bottle, after the “prise de mousse”), complex chemical reactions take place when the wine remains in contact with the dead yeast cells, which progressively bring complex and very much sought-after aromas to champagne. Nevertheless, despite their remarkable impermeability to liquid and air, caps or natural cork stoppers used to cork the bottles are not 100% hermetic with regard to gas transfers. Gas species therefore very slowly diffuse through the cap or cork stopper, along their respective inverse partial pressure. After the “prise de mousse”, because the partial pressure of CO2 in the bottleneck reaches up to 6 bars (at 12 °C), gaseous CO2 progressively diffuse from the bottle to the ambient air
(where the partial pressure of gaseous CO2 is only of order of 0,0004 bar).