Biogeosciences and terroir analysis

Terroir is a complex concept aiming to express "collective knowledge of the interactions" between the environment and the vines mediated through human action and "providing distinctive characteristics" to the final product (OIV 2010).

The popular press often treats and communicates it without a proper understanding of the mechanistic relationships between the wine characteristics and the site. These relationships are primarily rooted in the physical environment, particularly in the interactions between the soil-plant and atmosphere system, affecting grapevine physiology, grape composition, and wine (the terroir expression).

Terroir studying and mapping are based on viticultural zoning procedures, realized with different levels of know-how at different spatial and temporal scales, empiricism, and complexity in the description of involved bio-physical processes, integrating or not the multidisciplinary nature of the terroir. The scientific understanding of the mechanisms ruling vineyard variability and the quality of grapes is one of the most important scientific focuses of terroir research. This knowledge can support the analysis of climate change impacts on terroir resilience, the identification of new promise land for viticulture, and drive vineyard management toward a target oenological goal.

In this context, the contribution of biogeosciences is fundamental to producing more accurate and reliable approaches to studying and analysing terroir.

This contribution will show an overview of the current approaches and applied technologies in terroir studies, with special attention to the identification of terroir zones.