Le cru de Bonnezeaux est une des appellations prestigieuses des vins liquoreux et moelleux des Coteaux du Layon et sa réputation est ancienne. L’INAO a effectué sa délimitation en 1953. Le vignoble est situé au nord de la ville de Thouarcé et au sud du village de Bonnezeaux, le long du versant rive droite du Layon, exposé au sud-ouest. La superficie du vignoble est de 156 ha.
The grapes producing and wine making regions are différent in their use of agricultural, industrial or agroindustrial means. These means are quite often very original and/or specialised; and lately are also quite competitive. Such means are being defined with increased accuracy in the delimitation and definition of its characteristics (Paneque et al., 1996 a). Human action together with other Elements and Agents involved in the vine growing production (Reyner, 1989) over these means lead to agronomic systems with important characteristics. Finally, the transformation of the vine growing production, through different technologies (Fleet, 1992), results in the creation of products with a different acceptance and economical value in the market.
The research carried out by the URVV of the INRA center in Angers aims to develop a methodology for the integrated characterization of the natural factors of viticultural terroirs, representative of the operating conditions of the vine and the sensory differences of the wines. In this context, the concept of Basic Terroir Unit (UTB) has been developed. The UTB represents a viticultural surface of variable geographical extension, defined as the association in a given place of a geological, pedological and landscape component, Morlat (1989), Riou et al. (1995).
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.
The notion of terroir covers multiple components, from geology, pedology, geomorphology and climatology (Doledec, 1995), to aspects that are less well identified but which also intervene in the “typicality” of wines. This justifies the “zoning” approach (Moncomble and Panigaï, 1990) to define homogeneous areas, under the same agro-viticultural management and also identified at the product level (Morlat and Asselin, 1992).
The worldwide reputation of Sauvignon Blanc has led technicians to ask themselves various questions about the cultivation of this variety: choice of the most suitable localities, the most effective agronomic strategies and the most appropriate wine-growing techniques, to bring out its particular aroma.
En France, la notion de Terroir a largement contribué à la réputation de nombreux vignobles. Elle a permis aussi d’accentuer la sensibilité des consommateurs, à la notion d’origine d’un produit. L’avenir de nombreux vignobles français semble lié à la capacité à innover en produisant des vins de qualité possédant en plus une typicité, aspect sensoriel susceptible de s’affirmer comme un facteur de vente auprès des futurs clients éduqués sur le plan du goût.
The winegrowers of the intercommunal cooperative cellar of Saint Hilaire d'Ozilhan have been practicing terroir selection for ten years. Five years ago, after having equipped themselves with an efficient commercial structure, and anxious to improve knowledge of their terroirs and to better control quantitatively and qualitatively the range of typicality that they can develop, they asked the Syndicate Général des Vignerons Réunis des Côtes du Rhône and the Institut Coopératif du Vin to help them set up an approach to better judge the behavior of the Grenache and Syrah grape varieties in the different terroirs, then to enhance this work through the improving product quality.
L’utilisation de levures sélectionnées est généralement considérée comme le moyen d’éviter les problèmes fermentaires. Néanmoins de nombreux viticulteurs pensent que ces levures sont à l’origine d’une standardisation des vins et militent pour le respect d’une flore indigène (Bourguignon, 1992).
The designations of origin of the Loire Valley wine have been recognized according to customs and notoriety established over the centuries since the Middle Ages. There are four main production basins going up the Loire, from Nantes to the Sancerrois region: Nantes, Anjou-Saumur, Touraine and the vineyards of the Centre. In each of these basins, there is a wide range of appellations of origin which has been established according to a logic which may not seem obvious to the uninformed.
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.
In this last ten years period, there has been many integrated and interdisciplinary studies to determine the aptitude of different zones to viticulture (Lulli et al., 1989 ; Costantini, 1992 ; Fregoni et al., 1992). The researches needed some différent knowledges about environment characteristics (soil, climate), ecology, vineyard management, vine genetic, winemaking and sensory analysis. The interaction of all these knowledge produced the assessment about the environmental vocation (Scienza et al., 1992). By means of this metodology, the “viticultural vocation” joined the word “zoning”, that is the territory parting for its ecopedological and geographical characteristics in relation to adaptative answer of winegrape (Morlat, 1989).
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in characterizing the ecological environment of vineyard production, and the growing need to delimit and characterize with precision the different homogeneous viticultural units. This has allowed the development of new studies which have as their objective the Vineyard Zoning. The delimitation and characterization of wine-growing areas poses specific problems in Spain, not only linked to the specific characteristics of the territory, but also to the size, distribution and index of viticultural occupation in the designations of origin.
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.
Par le fait d’une politique agricole communautaire axée sur des objectifs de qualité des produits, la recherche et l’identification des critères de cette qualité deviennent impératives. En viticulture, la notion de qualité du produit est rattachée au concept théorique de «terroir». Ce terme englobe un ensemble de paramètres du milieu (géologie, sol, climat) influant sur la récolte.