Descriptive analysis of Sangiovese and Cabernet-Sauvignon wines from different terroirs in D.O.C. Bolgheri (Tuscany)

Aims: The objective of the present work is to review strategies applied to decrypt multidimensional and ill-defined concepts employed by winemakers and to illustrate these strategies with recent applications.

Le système des appellations d’origine aux Etats-Unis était adopté en 1978 et est entré en vigueur en 1983. Jusqu’à présent, 146 aires viticoles avaient été établies dans 26 états.

Ampelography is aimed at describing the vine according to several characteristics, such as morphology, agronomic aptitudes, technological potential, and genetics. The description of varieties and species of vitis has long been the subject of numerous scientific and technical studies by eminent specialists for a long time, which have led the OIV to publish in 1983 the “descriptor list for grape varieties and vitis species”, a milestone among the OIV worldwide recognised codes.

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.

AIM: Pre-fermentative fining is one of the central steps of white wine production. Mainly aiming at reducing the levels of suspended solids, juice fining can also assist in reducing the content of oxidizable phenolics and therefore the susceptibility of juice to oxidation.