Proceedings of International Terroir Congress 1996

The northern vineyards produce wines with a high aromatic richness. The wines of Alsace are appreciated for the diversity of their aromas, the typicality of which was for a long time judged mainly according to the grape variety of origin. Alsatian winegrowers have however widely sensed the importance of the environment of the vine on the quality of the wines. Efforts are made to try to harmonize in a reasoned way the interaction between the natural environment and the plant material with a view to developing the character of the grape variety through the fine expression of the terroir and making the quality and typicality even more inimitable. wines produced in Alsace.

Work aimed at understanding the relationship between a terroir, in the agronomic sense, and the physico-chemical characteristics of grapes or wine are numerous today, as evidenced by the program of this symposium. But for an economist, the central question remains to know how the terroir can intervene in the construction of the economic value of wine and in the differentiation of its prices. Is the terroir effect recognized by the end consumer or is it only an internal adjustment variable in the production systems? Through which indicators can this terroir effect be managed by the various operators in the sector? In the end, isn't it better to invoke a “territorial effect” that the actors can build, and of which the terroir would be one of the possible components?

On peut être surpris de l’existence d’un vignoble de vins liquoreux, le vignoble des Coteaux du Layon, dans une zone septentrionale à la limite Nord de la culture de qualité de la vigne et ce d’autant plus que le cépage de ce vignoble, le Chenin ou Pineau de la Loire, est un cépage semi tardif. La première explication est à rechercher au niveau des facteurs naturels (données climatiques et géopédologiques) permettant la réalisation de ce type de produit. Il est nécessaire de souligner ici l’importance de chaque paramètre du terroir pris dans im sens large (géopédologique et climatique) et que toute variation de l’un d’entre eux, même non perceptible en première analyse à l’homme, peut avoir des incidences déterminantes sur la qualité des vins.

Different “landscape unit” have been identified in Bolgheri area (a viticultural appellation in the Tirrenian coast of Tuscany) by the aid of pedological, landscape and agronomic observations in the 1992-1993 period. In all cultivar (Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot) x landscape unit combinations, experimental plots were chosen in homogeneous vineyards, single cordon trained (about 3300-4500 vines/hectare). Grape maturation was studied by weekly samples of berries from veraison to vintage in the 1992-1995 period. At harvest yield and must composition traits were measured and, from the most représentative plots, sixty kilograms of grapes were harvested each year and vinified according to a standardised scheme. Wines were evaluated by standard chemical and sensory analyses.

For several years, the development of computer resources, and in particular of Geographic Information Systems, have allowed the emergence of a new approach to the analysis and characterization of wine-growing areas (Morlat, 1989; Laville, 1990). These methods, which make it possible to identify homogeneous areas or units of terroir, are based on crossing, statistical analysis (in particular Principal Component Analysis: PCA) and the integration of parameters describing the natural environment in which develop the vine.

For a long time environment was known as one of the most important factors to characterize the quality of wines but at the same time it appears very difficult to distinguish inside the “terroir” the role of the single factor. These remarks partially explain why methods for viticultural evaluation are often quite different (Amerine et al., 1944; Antoniazzi et al., 1986; Asselin et al., 1987; Astruc et al., 1980; Bonfils, 1977; Boselli, 1991; Colugnati, 1990; Costantinescu, 1967; Costantini et al., 1987; Dutt et al., 1981; Falcetti et al., 1992; Fregoni et al., 1992; Hidalgo, 1980; Intrieri et al., 1988; Laville, 1990; Morlat et al., 1991; Scienza et al., 1990; Shubert et al., 1987; Turri et al., 1991).

Temperature has a decisive influence on the growth and development of plants (Carbonneau et al., 1992). In particular, in the case of the vine, the temperature is an omnipresent variable in the climatic indices (Huglin, 1986). For reasons of convenience, these indices use the temperature of the air measured under shelter in a meteorological station, making the implicit hypothesis of a concordance between this temperature and that of the sites of perception of the thermal stimulus by the plant. However, development may be more dependent on soil temperature than air temperature (Kliewer, 1975). Morlat (1989) thus verified that the variability in the precocity of the vine, positively correlated with the quality of the harvest and of the wine in the Loire Valley, was mainly explained by differences in temperature of the root zones.

In the course of the present work, which is the first part of a study on the “characterization of Barbera dell’Oltrepo Pavese D.O.C.” 30 wines Barbera from 1993 vintage have been compared only regarding their sensory characteristics. An unstructured scale card, composed by 15 descriptors have been used.

Le sujet proposé dans le thème “l’environnement juridique” est plus économique que juridique, et constitue une sorte de complément au sujet qui l’a précédé : analyse des marchés, stratégies commerciales et terroirs”.

In the Champagne vineyards, spring frosts are the cause of significant variations in the volume of the harvest which are very penalizing for the trade. This variability is reflected both in time (years without frost alternating with years with severe frosts) and in space. Certain sectors of the vineyard are in fact statistically more susceptible to frost than others, but each year no municipality can consider itself immune to this climatic accident. The objective of the study is precisely to analyze the spatial distribution of frost and to determine its main mechanisms, linked to the topography of the hillsides, their orientation but also to regional meteorological variables.

Le vigneron européen est de plus en plus à la recherche de la valorisation de son terroir par la personnalisation de la typicité de ses produits. Dans ce contexte, il est apparu depuis longtemps que la part des facteurs technologiques ou humains est d’une importance capitale face aux conditions de l’envirormement naturel. Le terroir se construit plus qu’il ne se subit.

Approaching the notion of terroir wines at the level of consumption poses a problem due to the absence of a regulatory definition of the term terroir, which is not taken up either at Community level or at national level (the Consumer Code in particular does not define not the land). However, whatever definition is adopted for the terroir, we can retain at the consumer level an identification of the terroir through the different geographical mentions appearing on the labels or on the shelves of the wine shelf.

During the 1985 harvest, I was able to notice in the taste perception a break in the harmony of the wine during even partial blends of grapes from different plots. At the same time, I noted a good reaction from customers for greater product customization. As a result, I was led to seek the objective limits of the terroir of a cuvée and by a constant and permanent refinement of the parameters specific to each of the terroirs.

The jurist feels like an intruder when talking about terroirs. He looks at the press and tries to understand. We can read there about the cooking festival of May 30, 1996 which “..highlights products whose quality depends on a region”, that Camembert du pays d'Auge is the only one to be protected, I was thinking of camembert from Normandy, that 80% of Greek feta is made in the Netherlands, I thought it was in Denmark, and that the European Community protects geographical indications of IGP origin, probably a new category replacing the indications protected areas (1). I also learned that distributors are asking for more local products because “they come to confuse the cards in the part engaged with the big brands”. Carrefour has its “Terroirs and drawers”, Prisunic its “Vent d’Ouest”, Intermarché “Les bouquets du terroir”, Monoprix “Les terroirs de France” (2), Promodés and its brand “Reflets de France” for the “Continent” hypermarkets (3). At the same time it is asserted that “The term is a mere common noun. Unprotectable and therefore unprotected” (4).

Les fromages d’Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) représentent un enjeu économique important pour la filière laitière (11 % des fromages produits en France sont des fromages d’AOC, et dans certaines régions de montagne, cette proportion dépasse 50 %). Les spécificités de ces fromages et leurs liaisons avec les caractéristiques du terroir constituent un système complexe où interagissent en particulier la technologie fromagère et les caractéristiques des laits (composition chimique en particulier). Ces dernières dépendent elles-mêmes des caractéristiques des animaux (origine génétique, facteurs physiologiques, état sanitaire) et de leur mode de conduite (alimentation, hygiène, traite…) (fig. 1). L’influence de ces facteurs de production (alimentation et type d’animal en particulier) sur les caractéristiques des fromages est fréquemment mise en avant par les fromagers, sur la base d’observations empiriques. Il existe cependant très peu de travaux expérimentaux sur le sujet, en raison, entre autres, de la difficulté de séparer correctement les effets propres de ces facteurs d’amont de ceux liés à la technologie fromagère.