Terroir 2006 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Soil or geology? And what’s the difference? Some observations from the New World

Soil or geology? And what’s the difference? Some observations from the New World

Abstract

Observational historical geology seeks to establish the evolutionary history of the surface of Earth. This approach is applicable not only to bedrock, but to the soft material that lies at the surface, the stuff called soil by most people. The geologic perspective provides a view of this material that is quite different from that of soil science, at least as practiced by many in America. Examples from the Walla Walla Valley of Washington and Oregon, and from the Napa Valley, illustrate the differences between these approaches. In Napa, correlation of grape character and viticultural realities with geologic observations suggests some underlying shared factor, perhaps drainage and water accessibility, but possibly influences of substrate temperature or microbiology. In addition, the geologic approach has proven useful in designing drainage and irrigation systems.

DOI:

Publication date: December 22, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2006

Type: Article

Authors

Jonathan SWINCHATT

EarthVision, Inc., 52 Cook Hill rd., Cheshire, CT. 06410, USA

Contact the author

Keywords

geology, soil, Napa, Walla Walla, terroir

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2006

Citation

Related articles…

Developmental stage-specific effects of high temperature on aroma accumulation in ‘Marselan’ grapes from the Helan Mountain region

The aroma of wine grapes is influenced by a complex metabolic network, with terroir factors, especially high temperatures, playing a critical role during berry development.

Early detection project – make a GTD infection visible without disease symptoms

The presence of grapevine trunk diseases (GTDs) related pathogens leads to severe economic losses in wine‐growing regions all over the world

Effect of the winemaking technology on the phenolic compounds, foam parameters in sparklig wines

Contribution Sparkling wines elaborated following the traditional method undergo a second fermentation in closed bottles of base wines, followed by aging of wines with lees for at least 9 months. Most of the sparkling wines elaborated are white and rosé ones, although the production of red ones is highly increasing. One of the initial problems in red sparkling wine processing is to obtain suitable base wines that should have moderate alcohol content and astringency and adequate color intensity; which is difficult to obtain when grapes must be harvested at low phenolic and industrial maturity stage. The low phenolic maturity degree in the red grapes makes essential to choose an adequate winemaking methodology to obtain the base wines because the extracted polyphenols will vary according the winemaking technique: carbonic maceration or destemmed-crushed grapes.

CHARACTERISTIC EXTRACTION OF THE PHENOL COMPOUNDS IN KOSHU (VITIS VINIFERA CV.) WINE DURING THE MACERATION

Koshu is one of the indigenous grape variety that has been grown in Japan for more than one thousand years. Recent research showed that it has 70% of Vitis vinifera genes. In 2010, the Koshu variety was included in ‘International List of Vine and Varieties and their Synonyms’ managed by the ‘International Organisation of Vine and Wine’ and has further fueled its popularity in Japan. It is the most cultivated variety for winemaking in Japan.
Koshu berries have light purple skins. The variety is mainly used to produce white wines such as an aromatic wine and a wine produced by sur lie method although various styles are produced.

Enological technics to enhance the aromatic qualities of white spirits 

Eugenol has been identified as a quality marker in armagnac white spirits. In particular, those produced from the Baco blanc variety, the only hybrid variety authorised in a French PDO, bred since 1898 from noah (vitis labrusca x v.riparia) and folle blanche (v. Vinifera). The varietal compound of Baco blanc, eugenol has many original properties.