Proceedings of International Terroir Congress 1996

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 qualitative and quantitative distribution of the phenolic compounds in red wines depends on cultivars features, on grapes maturation state, on grapes processing technology including must obtention, as well as on maceration-fermentation method (Margheri, 1981). The last two factors are responsible for the different phenolic composition of the wines produced from the same cultivar.

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.

Cette recherche a eu pour but l’étude des effets d’un renforcement radiatif et thermique sur les zones inférieures de la canopée de la vigne (solarisation par des films ou des paillages réfléchissants installés sur le sol, sous les ceps), notamment l’étude de leurs conséquences sur la composition biochimique des moûts à la vendange et sur la qualité des vins.

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.

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).

In the global economic context, an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée must now more than ever control the typicity and originality of the wines it produces. It is in this spirit that the Côtes du Rhône have decided to acquire the means necessary for this control.

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.

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 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.

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In addition to studies on the edaphic and landscape characteristics of the environment (Dolédec, 1995), the characterization of the physiology of the vine and of parasitism during its vegetative cycle represents an essential component of knowledge and management of the terroirs.

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.

With the Federation of Wine Syndicates of Anjou and the Wine Syndicate of Angevin for direct sale to the Property, the Higher School of Agriculture of Angers was led to carry out, in 1995, a survey of winegrowers in Maine and Loire, with a view to grouping the supply of some of the wines intended for direct sale (Huet, 1995).

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.