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…

Vine phenology and climate in Bordeaux, since the beginning of the XIXth century

We analyze the effects of climate (temperature and pluviometry) on the phenologic stages of the vine (débourrement, flowering, ripening and grape harvest). We rebuilt time series starting from the beginning of the XIXth century for the Medoc and the area of Bordeaux, data very seldom mobilized by researchers.

Caractérisation de la dynamique d’accumulation des sucres à l’échelle d’un territoire

Dans le cadre de TerclimPro 2025, Laure de Rességuier a présenté un article IVES Technical Reviews. Retrouvez la présentation ci-dessous ainsi que l’article associé : https://ives-technicalreviews.eu/article/view/8495

Influence of different strains of lab on quality of catarratto wine produced in sicily

AIM: Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and Oenococcus oeni species is worldwide used as starter for malolactic fermentation [1, 2].

MAPPING THE CONCENTRATIONS OF GASEOUS ETHANOL IN THE HEADSPACE OF CHAMPAGNE GLASSES THROUGH INFRARED LASER ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY

Under standard wine tasting conditions, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) responsible for the wine’s bouquet progressively invade the glass headspace above the wine surface. Most of wines being complex water/ethanol mixtures (with typically 10-15 % ethanol by volume), gaseous ethanol is therefore undoubtedly the most abundant VOC in the glass headspace [1]. Yet, gaseous ethanol is known to have a multimodal influence on wine’s perception [2]. Of particular importance to flavor perception is the effect of ethanol on the release of aroma compounds into the headspace of the beverage [1].

Wine without added SO2: Oxygen impact and color evolution during red wine aging

SO2 play a major role in wine stability and evolution during its aging and storage. Winemaking without SO2 is a big challenge for the winemakers since the lack of SO2 affects directly the wine chemical evolution such as the aromas compounds as well as the phenolic compounds. During the red wine aging, phenolic compounds such as anthocyanin, responsible of the red wine colour, and tannins, responsible of the mouthfeel organoleptic properties of wine, evolved quickly from the winemaking process to aging [1]. A lot of new interaction and molecules occurred lead by oxygen[2] thus the lack of SO2 will induce wine properties changes. Nowadays, the phenolic composition of the wine without added SO2 have not been clearly reported.