Terroir 2006 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 The Soil Component of Terroir

The Soil Component of Terroir

Abstract

Evidence for a specific effect of soil mineral composition on wine character is largely anecdotal. However, soil potassium supply to the vine must be properly balanced between deficiency and excess for good fruit quality. Nitrogen supply interacts with soil water to affect vine vigour, yield and fruit quality. With irrigation, water availability in the top 40-60 cm of soil can be managed through regulated deficit irrigation, thereby subduing the mineralization of soil organic N and decreasing vine N uptake, with favourable effects on fruit quality. In dry land vineyards, water availability depends on climate and soil physical properties, the latter being beneficially modified by calcium. The effect of soil variation on terroir should be evaluated on a scale of metres rather than kilometers. High density real-time measurements of relevant soil properties enables digital soil mapping at very high resolutions. Thus, vineyards can be divided into small blocks with the same mesoclimate allowing site-specific soil management and cultural operations (precision viticulture).

DOI:

Publication date: December 22, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2006

Type: Article

Authors

Robert WHITE, Lilanga BALACHANDRA, Robert EDIS and Deli CHEN

School of Resource Management, Faculty of Land and Food Resources, The University of Melbourne,
Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia

Contact the author

Keywords

grapevines, precision viticulture, soil management, soil variability, terroir

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2006

Citation

Related articles…

Geochemistry of Vrbničko Polje (Croatia) winegrowing site

A multi-element pedo-geochemical survey was carried out in Vrbničko polje vineyards on the Krk Island, Croatia. This Mediterranean winegrowing site is famous by Žlahtina wine production.

Terroir and Typicity: proposed definitions for two essential concepts in the understanding of Geographical Indications and sustainable development

The content of this communication arises from the deliberations of a working group mandated within the framework of the INRA-INAO 2000-2003 research convention, which brought together INAO representatives and researchers who had worked on AOCs or PGIs, in disciplines from the sphere of the humanities (consumer science, marketing, rural development) and biotechnical sciences (agronomy, animal production science, technology, biochemistry).

Iso-/anisohydric behavior in wine grapes may be a matter of soil moisture

There are claims that wine grape cultivars are either isohydric or anisohydric; the former maintaining, and the latter decreasing, their plant water status as soil moisture declines. However, available information is inconsistent. There are those that show an existence of a continuum in cultivar response to soil moisture rather than a distinct categorization. Others even show both behaviors in the same cultivar grown in different environments. In this study we investigated the behavior of 30 own rooted Vitis vinifera cultivars during successive drydown and rewatering cycles over two growing seasons in arid eastern Washington (<200 mm annual precipitation).

Kinetic investigations of the sulfite addition on flavanols

Sulfonated monomeric and dimeric flavan-3-ols are recently discovered in wine and proved to have great importance in understanding wine chemistry and quality [1, 2].

Unveiling Metschnikowia spp.: mechanisms and impacts of bioprotection in winemaking

Bioprotection, leveraging beneficial microorganisms, has emerged as a sustainable approach to modern winemaking, minimizing reliance on chemical preservatives like as sulfur dioxide (SO₂).