Outline for the définition of “Terroirs Viticoles application to the area of El AIjarafe (Seville, Spain)

Trunk diseases and esca in particular, represent a major threat to the sustainability of the vineyards. The percentages of unproductive vines in a plot could vary from 4% to over 20 % depending on local conditions and vintages.

Climate change is likely to impact wine typicity across the globe, raising concerns in wine regions historically renowned for the quality of their terroir1. Amongst several changes in viticultural practices, replacing some of the planting material (i.e. clones, rootstocks and cultivars) is thought to be one of the most promising potential levers to be used for adapting to climate change. But the change of cultivars also involves the issue of protecting the region’s wine typicity. In Bordeaux (France), extensive research has been conducted on identifying meridional varieties that could be good candidates to help guard against the effects of climate change2 while less research has been done concerning their impacts on Bordeaux wine typicity.

La définition de l’Appellation d’Origine précise que les caractères du produit doivent être dus au milieu géographique, celui-ci intégrant des facteurs naturels et humains.

Viticulture worldwide is currently affected by the effects of climate change. This set of adverse phenomena lead to a deterioration of functional vine mechanisms, affecting growth, physiology and grape ripening, which may cause severe losses with respect to yield and quality. To prevent water stress and other abiotic factors from severely affecting its physiology, the vine’s response is to reduce transpiration and photosynthesis rates. This response varies depending on the cultivar and its ability to adapt to the environment. The hydroscape method is based on the internal regulation of water status in the plant. It has been recently used to classify grapevine genotypes according to their iso/anisohydric behavior when they are subjected to water stress conditions.

The evolution of wine quality issues is historically expressed by the passage from wine quality (what is a wine?) to wine quality (what is a good wine?). Perhaps the next question could be: what is a good sustainable wine? To contribute to reflection on this theme, it may be worthwhile to undertake an exercise in prospective fiction, which we have identified in the hypothesis of the AOD, the “appellation d’origine durable”, a scenario we will develop in the light of developments in the wine industry and the regulation on geographical indications.