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.

The influence of climatic conditions on the development of the vine and on the quality of the wines no longer needs to be demonstrated at the scale of the vineyard, by the regional climatic characteristics, determining on this scale the viticultural potentialities (Huglin, 1978; Branas, 1946; Riou et al ., 1994); but also on a local scale, at the level of the basic terroir unit (Morlat, 1989), by the landscape differentiation of the natural environment inducing climatic variability within the same vineyard, and partly explaining differences in functioning of the vine, in connection with the processes of maturation and the quality of the wine (Becker, 1977 and 1984; Morlat, 1989 and Lebon, 1993a). According to these authors, the climatic diversity in a wine region constitutes in addition to the edaphic component, an important component of characterization of the Basic Terroir Units (UTB).

Cette communication sera basée sur les résultats d’une étude auprès des consommateurs réalisée par la société G3 pour l’I.N.A.O. sur les attitudes des consommateurs vis à vis des produits de terroir et des A.O.C. et sur un mémoire de DEA soutenu par Monsieur J-C. DURIEUX à l’Université de Paris X Nanterre, consacré aux variables explicatives du comportement d’achat des vins A.O.C.

Over the past few decades, viticultural research has made numerous contributions which have made it possible to better understand the behavior of the vine as well as its response to the conditions imposed on it by the environment and agronomic practices. However, these results have only rarely been used in the practical management of vineyards because the research has been carried out using partial experimental models where reality is only represented by a few factors which are sometimes even made more complex by the introduction of elements foreign to the existing situation and difficult to apply to production (varieties, methods of cultivation, management techniques, etc.). To these reasons, one could add a low popularization of the results obtained, as well as the difficulty of implementing the scientific contributions, which does not allow the different production systems to fully express their potential. This limit of viticultural research can only be exceeded by the design of integrated projects designed directly on and for the territory. Indeed, only the integrated evaluation of a viticultural agro-system, which can be achieved through zoning, makes it possible to measure, or even attribute to each element of the system, the weight it exerts on the quality of the wine.

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).

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.

It is not easy at first sight to give an exhaustive definition of the notion of terroir as it can be simplified or complicated at will. Thus the vagueness that surrounds this concept leaves the door open to various interpretations of the terroir. These tend towards a questionable level of objectivity because the fields they explore are not sufficient to explain the notion on their own, constituting only part of a whole.

The diversity of potential sources of damage to the terroir of an appellation (physical, aesthetic, ecological damage, damage to the image, to collective representation or even, in a broad concept which will not be retained here, to the geographical name identifying the terroir) is accompanied by a fragmentation of the legal sources allowing its protection.

Ecological resources represent vegetation factors, or even production factors, in quantitative expression. These, used by plants, transformed and organized according to their genetic program, become the material components of biomass. Subsequently, the ecological resources can be used as synthetic indicators of the ecological supply, necessary for the analysis of favorability for the understanding of ecosystems.

A worrying drop in the acidity of wines has been observed in many wine regions, such as Bordeaux (Merlot), Burgundy (Pinot Noir), Côtes-du-Rhône (Grenache) or Rioja (Tempranillo). This lack of acidity is particularly marked in the Midi-Pyrenean vineyards of the Côtes du Frontonnais (Tournier, 1993). However, the acidity of a wine is one of the main factors of its quality, in fact, a low acidity combined with an insufficient tannic structure leads to rapid oxidation of wines and makes them age prematurely.

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.

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”.

La place prépondérante que prend le Massif Jurassien en Franche-Comté confère à la région un caractère montagneux qui a orienté l’agriculture vers l’élevage laitier. Cette vocation pastorale marquée et de rudes conditions climatiques sont à l’origine de la production, attestée depuis l’Antiquité, d’un fromage de réserve pour la longue période hivernale. Cette tradition fromagère, liée à des prairies naturelles, a perduré jusqu’à nos jours. La qualité et la spécificité du produit actuel, le fromage de Comté, ont été reconnues dès 1952 par l’attribution d’un label et dès 1958, par la reconnaissance d’un périmètre d’appellation d’origine contrôlée, l’A.O.C. Comté (fig. 1).

La diffusion récente et “explosive” du Chardonnay dans pratiquement toutes les zones de culture viticole du monde a fait penser, à tort, que cette variété s’adapte facilement à toutes les conditions pédo-climatiques ou presque. Cette thèse a été confirmée par la grande faculté d’adaptation dont a fait preuve le vignoble et par la popularité dont jouit le vin auprès des consommateur du monde entier.

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.