Terroir 2008 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 International Terroir Conferences 9 Terroir 2008 9 Global approach and application of terroir studies: product typicity and valorisation 9 Mesoclimate and Topography influence on grape composition and yield in the AOC Priorat

Mesoclimate and Topography influence on grape composition and yield in the AOC Priorat

Abstract

The Priorat AOC, which is situated behind the coastal mountain range of Tarragona, is characterised by a Mediterranean climate that tends towards continentality and has very little precipitation during the vegetation cycle. The soil is poor quality, dry and pebbly, and made up of schist. To measure how topographie and mesoclimate affects the qualitative potential of Grenache in the Priorat, we evaluated the changes on grape composition during ripening and at harvest. The study was carried out during the 2002 (temperate) and 2003 (warm) vintages and the trial was performed in 8 plots: two villages in two different mesoclimates were selected, early and late ripening and, two different terraces in each village, topographically located up and down of the slope. Alcohol degree, acidity, pH, skin anthocyanins, the anthocyanin content in the berry and the berry weight were sampled and analyzed during maturity. Yield was determined at harvest. Sugar content increased in early regions and cooler vintage, however, in late regions, the noticeable increase happened in the warmer vintage. Extractable anthocyanins in berries increased during ripening in early region and cooler vintage, nevertheless, the accumulation stopped o decrease a week before harvest in the warmest regions. The plot located in high altitude (late region) didn’t attaint the complete maturity as such showed the low anthocyanin concentration. Topography effects revealed higher concentration of anthocyanins, low yield and low berry weight associated to the terraces located in the up side of the hill in temperate vintage. The warm vintage affects grape composition decreasing anthocyanins and yields. No effect was found comparing early and late regions for both, yield and vintage.

Download the PDF

DOI:

Publication date: December 8, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2008

Type : Article

Authors

Nadal MONTSE, Mateos SUMPTA, Miriam LAMPREAVE

Dept de Bioquímica i Biotecnologia. Facultat d’Enologia de Tarragona. Universitat Rovira i Virgili. Campus Sescelades, Marcel·lí Domingo, s/n, 43007 Tarragona

Contact the author

Keywords

Terroir, topographie, mesoclimate, grape composition, yield, Priorat

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2008

Citation

Related articles…

Effect of irrigation and soil type on root growth and distribution of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Nero d’Avola grown in Sicily

L’essai a été effectué dans un vignoble du cépage Nero d’Avola greffé sur 1103 Paulsen dans un terroir de la D.O.C Alcamo en Sicile. Le système de conduite des vignes était à espalier, la taille à cordon coursonné et l’irrigation à goutte a goutte. On a été confrontés trois types de traitements: A) vignes non irriguées; B) vignes irriguées quand le

Read More

Rootstock effects on Grüner Veltliner ecophysiology in the Kremstal wine region of Austria

Understanding the impact of rootstocks on grapevine water relations is crucial to face climate change maintaining vineyard productivity and sustainability.

Read More

Using image analysis for assessing downy mildew severity in grapevine

Aim: Downy mildew is a crucial disease in viticulture. In-field evaluation of downy mildew has been classically based on visual inspection of leaves and fruit. Nevertheless, non-invasive sensing technologies could be used for disease detection in grapevine. The aim of this study was to assess downy mildew severity in grapevine leaves using machine vision.

Read More

L’effetto paesaggio sul sistema delle preferenze: i vini veneti tra evocazioni di consumo e determinanti di scelta

La presente relazione mira ad individuare il ruolo del paesaggio nella determinazione delle preferenze della domanda, in modo da far emergere i fattori immateriali che definiscono il valore territoriale dei vini tipici su cui far leva per le strategie di marketing. L’analisi ha riguardato vini tipici del Veneto e coinvolto soggetti non provenienti da questa Regione. Ne è emerso l’effetto amplificativo dell’immagine del paesaggio sulla qualità percepita.

Read More

WineMetrics: A new approach to unveil the “wine-like aroma” chemical feature

“The Human being has an excellent ability to detect and discriminate odors but typically has great difficulty in identifying specific odorants”(1). Furthermore, “from a cognitive point of view the mechanism used to judge wines is closer to pattern recognition than descriptive analysis.” Therefore, when one wants to reveal the volatile “wine-like feature” pattern recognition techniques are required. Sensomics is one of the most recent “omics”, i.e. a holistic perspective of a complex system, which deals with the description of substances originated from microorganism metabolism that are “active” to human senses (2). Depicting the relevant volatile fraction in wines has been an ongoing task in recent decades to which several research groups have allocated important resources. The most common strategy has been the “target approach” in order to identify the “key odorants” for a given wine varietal.

Read More