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…

Soil and Climate Interactions with Grapevines

To test the hypothesis that soil type plays a minor role relative to that of vine vigor in the determination of yield, fruit composition and wine sensory attributes, 5 Chardonnay vineyards in the Niagara

Training vineyards resilience to environmental variations by managing vine water use

The challenges of the century for viticulture relate to coping with climate change and the loss of biodiversity in a downturning socio-economic context. Now more than ever, the vine and wine industry needs to be resilient to maintain and ensure a future for its heritage. An innovation of capital importance, in line with recently published research, deals with developing new methods of training our inherited and newly planted vineyards to better withstand environmental variations such as drought and heatwaves but also unevenly distributed rains and temperatures.

Mechanisms responsible for different susceptibility of grapevine varieties to flavescence dorée

Flavescence dorée (FD) is the most serious grapevine yellows disease in Europe. It is caused by phytoplasmas which are transmitted from grapevine to grapevine by the leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus.

Generation and characterization of a training population in Vitis vinifera for enhanced genomic selection

Context and purpose of the study. Modern viticulture is facing significant challenges due to global climate changes, spanning from extreme heat spells and water scarcity to the acceleration of grapevine’s phenological development with important consequences from budbreak to harvest.

OTR determination of aged closures: Impact on aroma compounds composition of Sauvignon blanc wines

Oxygen transfer rate (OTR) is a technical property of closure, and it modulates the oxygen supply to the wine during its bottle aging. It’s an important parameter to take into account in the analysis of wine aroma evolution. OTR distribution is well documented for new closures, but little research has been published on its determination for aged closures. Initial oxygen release after bottling impacts the composition of wines during the first years of storage), but the link between OTR, sensory perception and aroma composition after many years of aging has not yet been clearly studied.