The Bergerac guaranteed vintage area « terroirs »

Vitis vinifera L. and other Vitis have high genetic variations for cultivars or varieties. Many countries carried out strong efforts creating new clones of varieties, mainly focusing on plants free of viruses and other grapevine diseases, but also on different agronomical and enological characteristics of the plants. The aim of this study was to evaluate six clones of Merlot in the traditional viticulture of southeastern Brazil, focusing on distinct characteristics of yield, enological potential of grapes and wine typicality, in order to improve wine quality.

The universalization in wine production has been restricting the imprint of terroir in regional wines, resulting in loss of typicity. Microbes are the main driving force in wine production, conducting fermentation and originating a myriad of metabolites that underly wine aroma. Grape berries harbor an ecological niche composed of filamentous fungi, yeasts and bacteria, which are influenced by the ripening stage, cultivar and region. The research project GrapeMicrobiota gathers a consortium from University of Zaragoza, University of Minho and University of Tours and aims at the isolation of native yeast strains from berries of the wine region Douro, UNESCO World Heritage, towards the production of wines that stand out in the market for their authenticity and for reflecting their region of origin in their aroma.

The climatic component is one of the elements of the zoning of viticultural potential, alongside the geological and pedological components (Morlat, 1989; Lebon et al , 1993). Many climatic indices have thus been defined to estimate the potential for wine production at the scale of a region or a country (Carbonneau et al ., 1992). The main climatic variables used are temperature and radiation. We note in particular the indices of Branas, Huglin and Ribereau-Gayon (Huglin, 1986). However, few studies have been undertaken on the spatial variability of microclimatic conditions at the scale of a vineyard, a valley, or even a municipality.

The interactive effects of three major enological variables were evaluated on the quality of Schiava wine up to one year of storage in bottle.

I risultati delle ricerche condotte in un vigneto sperimentale di Marsala (TP), scelto per omogeneità di fattori bio-agronomici (età, tecniche colturali, potenzialità vegetativa e produttiva)