Terroir 1996 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Influence of the unité de terroir base on the typicity of winesin the AOC Priorat in Tarragona

Influence of the unité de terroir base on the typicity of winesin the AOC Priorat in Tarragona

Abstract

[English version below]

L’AOC Priorat, située derrière les montagnes du pré littoral de Tarragone, se caractérise par un climat méditerranéen avec une tendance à la continentalité et très peu de précipitation pendant le cycle végétatif. Les sols sont secs, pauvres et caillouteux, formés par des schistes. Au cours des années 2000 et 2001, une étude de l’influence du terroir sur la typicité des vins du Priorat a été réalisée en prenant comme référence trois cépages cultivés dans différentes parceIles pour mesurer l’effet du terroir et du mésoclimat sur la qualité des vins: Grenache noir x sol de schistes (situé à Bellmunt B) et Grenache x sol tertiaire avec des carbonates (Vilella baixa VB ); Carignan x sol de schistes (VB et Porrera P) et Cabernet-Sauvignon x sol de schistes (B) et Cabernet-Sauvignon x terrasses alluviales (VB). Il a été analysé l’évolution de la maturité, le rendement, la composition chimique des raisins et les paramètres de la couleur des vins. La vendange la plus précoce fut localisée en B, suivi de VB et P; les raisins atteignent un degré de maturité similaire sauf dans le cas de P. Le Carignan issu de vieilles vignes a présenté le rendement le plus faible tandis que le Grenache et le Cabernet montrent des valeurs plus élevées et différentes selon le millésime: elles augmentent en 2000 par rapport à 2001. Le Grenache dans tous les types sols donne un degré alcoolique plus élevé. Le Cabernet a présenté une concentration en tanins supérieure dans les deux sols, schistes et alluvions, avec quelques différences selon l’année. Les teneurs en anthocyanes ainsi que les valeurs d’intensité colorante sont similaires pour les vins de Carignan et Cabernet. De plus, pour des terroirs identiques, les vins de Carignan issus du mésoclimat VB, résultent les plus riches en anthocyanes et les plus colorés. La sècheresse des sols et le mésoclimat de la région a un effet important sur la composition des vins.

The Priorat AOC, which is situated behind the coastal mountain range of Tarragona, is characterised by a Mediterranean climate that tends towards continentality and has very little precipitation during the vegetation cycle. The soil is poor quality, dry and pebbly, and made up of schist. During 2000 and 2001, we evaluated the following parameters: the evolution of maturity, the yield, the chemical composition of the grapes and the colour of the wines. To measure how terroir and mesoclimate affect the quality of the wines, we studied three varieties grown in several plots: red Grenache in schist soil of Bellmunt B; Grenache in tertiary soil with carbonates in Vilella Baixa VB; Carignan in schist soil in VB and Porrera P; Cabernet Sauvignon in schist soil in B; and Cabernet Sauvignon in alluvial terraces in VB. The earliest harvest was in B, followed by VB and P. All grapes except those in P acquired a similar degree of maturity. Carignan from old vines had the lowest yield for each year. The yield values for Grenache and Cabernet were higher in 2000 than in 2001. The alcoholic content of wine from Grenache was the highest in all types of soil. For Cabernet, the concentration of tannins was higher in both soils, schist and alluvial. Anthocyanin content and total polyphenol index (IPT) were similar in Carignan et Cabernet wines. The Carignan wines produced in the VB mesoclimate were richer in anthocyanin and had a more intense colour than in P. These results show that the dryness of the terroir and mesoclimat has an important effect on the wine composition.

DOI:

Publication date: February 15, 2022

Issue: Terroir 2002

Type: Article

Authors

NADAL, M., MATEOS, A., ALSINA, X., CeRTA 

Dept Bioquimica i Biotecnologia, Facultat d’Enologia de Tarragona, URV, Espagne

Contact the author

Keywords

terroir, millésime, anthocyanes, tanins, rendement, qualité du vin, Priorat
terroir, millésime, anthocyanins, tanins, yield, wine quality, Priorat

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2002

Citation

Related articles…

VINIoT – Precision viticulture service

The project VINIoT pursues the creation of a new technological vineyard monitoring service, which will allow companies in the wine sector in the SUDOE space to monitor plantations in real time and remotely at various levels of precision. The system is based on spectral images and an IoT architecture that allows assessing parameters of interest viticulture and the collection of data at a precise scale (level of grape, plant, plot or vineyard) will be designed. In France, three subjects were specifically developed: evaluation of maturity, of water stress, and detection of flavescence dorée. For the evaluation of maturity, it has been decided first to work at the berry scale in the laboratory, then at the bunch scale and finally in the vineyard. The acquisition of the spectral hyperstal image as well as the reference analyzes to measure the maturity, were carried out in the laboratory after harvesting the berries in a maturity monitoring context. This work focuses on a case study to predict sugar content of three different grape varieties: Syrah, Fer Servadou and Mauzac. A robust method called Roboost-PLSR, developed in the framework of this work (Courand et al., 2022), to improve prediction model performance was applied on spectra after the acquirement of hyperspectral images. Regarding the evaluation of water stress, to work with a significant variability in terms of water status, it has been worked first with potted plants under 2 different water regimes. The facilities have allowed the supervision of irrigation and micro-climatic conditions. The regression models on agronomic variables (stomatal conductance, water potential, …) are studied. To detect flavescence dorée, the experimental plan has consisted of work at leaf scale in the laboratory first, and then in the field. To detect the disease from hyper-spectral imaging, a combination of multivariate curve resolution-alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) and factorial discriminant analysis (FDA) was proposed. This strategy proved the potential towards the discrimination of healthy and infected leaves by flavescence dorée based on the use of hyperspectral images (Mas Garcia et al., 2021).

Local adaptation tools to ensure the viticultural sustainability in a changing climate

[lwp_divi_breadcrumbs home_text="IVES" use_before_icon="on" before_icon="||divi||400" module_id="publication-ariane" _builder_version="4.19.4" _module_preset="default" module_text_align="center" module_font_size="16px" text_orientation="center"...

Upscaling the integrated terroir zoning through digital soil mapping: a case study in the Designation of Origin Campo de Borja

homogeneous zones by intersecting several partial zonings of major factors that influence vineyard growth. Each of them follows specific process from their corresponding disciplines. Soil zoning specifically refers to a Soil Resource Inventory map that has traditionally been generated by conventional soil mapping methods. These methods have shortcomings in reaching fine cartographic and categorical details and involve significant expenses, which undermines their applicability. A new framework named Digital Soil Mapping has introduced quantitative models by statistical techniques to establish soil-landscape relationships and is able to provide intensive scale cartography.

In the present study, a microzoning at 1:10.000 scale is generated from an initial zoning, where the conventional soil map with polytaxic map units is replaced by a new one from digital techniques that disaggregates them. The comparison between the zonings considers a quantitative evaluation of capability for each Homogeneous Terroir Unit by means of the Viticultural Quality Index and its categorization based on its distribution by map. The spatial intersection of both maps gives rise to a confusion matrix in which the flows of class variations after the substitution are assessed.

The results show a five-fold increase in the number of Homogeneous Terroir Units identified and a larger differentiation among them, evidenced by a wider range in the capability index distribution. Both elements are accompanied by an increase in the detection of areas of higher potential within previously undervalued uniform zones.These features are a direct effect of the improvements brought by Digital Soil Mapping techniques and would verify the advantages of their implementation in the Integrated Terroir zoning. Eventually, such new highly detailed terroir units would benefit precision viticulture and sustainable management practices.

Analysis of some environmental factors and cultural practices that affect the production and quality of the Manto Negro, Callet and Prensal Blanc varieties

45 non irrigated vineyards distributed in the DO (Denomination) Pla i Llevant de Mallorca and the DO Binissalem Mallorca were used to investigate the characteristics of production and quality and their relationships certain environmental factors and cultural practices. The grape varieties investigated are autochthonous to the island of Mallorca, Manto Negro and Callet as red and Prensal Blanc as white. All plants were measured for four consecutive years in the main production and quality parameters. Among the environmental factors, the type of soil has been studied, more specifically its water retention capacity, the planting density, the age of the vineyard and the level of viral infection. The presence or absence of virus seems to have no effect on any component studied in the varieties studied. For the white variety Prensal Blanc age is negatively correlated with production and the number of bunches, nevertheless it does not cause any effect on the required quality parameters. However, for the red varieties Callet and Manto Negro, the age of the plantation is the variable that best correlates with the quality parameters, therefore the old vines should be the object of preservation by the viticulturists and winemakers in order to guarantee its contribution to the quality of the wines made with these varieties.

Inhibition of Oenococcus oeni during alcoholic fermentation by a selected Lactiplantibacillus plantarum strain

The use of selected cultures of the species Lactiplantibacillus plantarum in Oenology has grown in prominence in recent years. While initial applications of this species centred very much around malolactic fermentation (MLF), there is strong evidence to show that certain strains can be harnessed for their bio-protective effects. Unwanted spontaneous MLF during alcoholic fermentation (AF), driven by rogue Oenococcus oeni, is a winemaking deviation that is very difficult to manage when it occurs. This work set out to determine the efficacy of one particular strain of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum(Viniflora® NoVA™ Protect), against this problem in Cabernet Sauvignon must. The work was carried out at commercial scale and in a winery environment and compared the bio-protective culture with the more traditional approach of reducing must pH by the addition of tartaric acid. The combination of both was also investigated. The concentration of both Oenococcus oeni and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum was determined using qPCR. The adventitious Oenococcus oeni showed the most growth during AF in the control wine, whereas in the wines treated with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum a bacteriostatic effect against this species was observed. This effect was comparable to the wines treated with tartaric acid. This has particular commercial relevance for controlling the flora in musts with high pH, or when the addition of tartaric acid is either not permitted or is prohibitive for other reasons.