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Conference report: les terroirs
viticoles—concept, produit,
valorisation: colloque international,
Angers, France, 17–18 July 1996
a
Jake Hancock
a
Department of Geology , Royal School of Mines, Imperial
College , Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2BP, UK
Published online: 21 Mar 2007.
To cite this article: Jake Hancock (1997) Conference report: les terroirs viticoles—concept,
produit, valorisation: colloque international, Angers, France, 17–18 July 1996, Journal of Wine
Research, 8:1, 51-54, DOI: 10.1080/09571269708718097
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09571269708718097
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Journal of Wine Research, 1997, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 51-54
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Conference Report: Les Terroirs Viticoles—Concept,
Produit, Valorisation: Colloque International,
Angers, France, 17-18 July 1996
Downloaded by [University of Chicago Library] at 16:46 11 October 2014
JAKE HANCOCK
Manuscript received, 20 August 1996
Introduction
The conference was organised by URW in Angers and U R W Montpellier for the
Institut National de Recherches Agronomiques, sponsored by L'Institut National des
Appellations d'Origine (INAO), L'Office International de la Vigne et du Vin and
L'Office National Interprofessionel des Vins, with the support of Le Centre Technique
Interprofessionel de la Vigne et du Vin and L'Union Francaise des Oenologues.
As indicated by the foregoing list, France must have by far the largest collection of
institutes concerned with wines of any country in the world. In spite of this the
organisation in Angers was excellent, with good facilities at the Centre des Congres,
including simultaneous translation into English and Spanish. In practice, this was barely
needed, for out of 210 people registered, there was only one from the US, two from the
UK, one from Australia, one from South Africa, 14 from Italy, four from Belgium, five
from Portugal, one from Hungary, one from Turkey, one from Switzerland, four from
Spain and two from Germany—and not all of these turned up. There was a curious
scarcity of people from Bordeaux: although there were six from the region, only one
apparently from the University of Bordeaux II (which is supposed to have an Institute
of Oenology), and he did not quote the university as his address.
Although terroir is literally 'soil', there are now only a few people who believe that soil
alone gives a local character to a wine. Just a few speakers still thought in terms of a
magic mystique and they were not well received. One of these few was, unfortunately,
allowed to go on talking rubbish for 42 min, whereas those giving solid results were only
allowed 15-20 min.
Dr Jacques Mesnier considered possible definitions of terroir from the traditional, e.g.
Larousse, Hachette, Littre, dictionaries:
An area of land recognised by its linkage to agriculture and its products,
amongst which only wine is usually quoted.
J. Hancock, Department of Geology, Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, Prince Consort Road, London
SW7 2BP, UK.
© Institute of Masters of Wine
52 J. HANCOCK
to a modern committee definition:
Terroir—latin notion which in French refers to a body of land whose natural
criteria: soil, sub-soil, relief and climate, form a unique assemblage of values
which confers on its products as the result of the plants and animals, specific
characteristics. Mankind has adapted his own practices of production to these
particular conditions of the natural environment to bring out as well as possible
the specific characteristics of die products of these unique places.
Nobody has yet succeeded in quantifying all these factors, which is, perhaps, just as well
since, in France, according to Jacques Audier of the University of Law, Economy and
Science at Aix en Provence, there is no legal definition of terroir. Yet the concept of
Appellations d'Origine Controlee (AOC) is based on terroirs, and AOC does have a legal
meaning. French law in this field has now become very complicated. Since 1990 the
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concept of AOC has applied to all agricultural products and INAO must provide an
opinion on any new project; there is a distinction between terroirs which are in the public
interest and those which are not. One can imagine the potential complications when
major new buildings are proposed. This was explained by Mme Helin from the INAO.
Climate
Variations in temperature with different mesoclimates are generally thought of in terms
of air temperatures. Eric Pradel and Philippe Pieri have shown that in the top 0.3 m of
the ground there are significant variations in temperature. At a depth of 0.16 m, there
could be changes of 5°C through the day, which would clearly affect the rate of uptake
of ions by the roots.
Dr Pierre Cellier and his colleagues at INRA in Angers have found variations of 3°C
at a depth of 1 m, and have developed a quantitative model of the effects. They have
also emphasised the importance of early rewarming of the soil allowing early growth of
new roots in such a parcelle precoce. In such an area, there will be early budding, good
vendange, and juice rich in sugars, colour and bouquet. With longer maceration, there
will be a strong, harmonious, coloured wine, rich in tannins: a vin de garde; but in a parcelle
tardive, there will be weak potential, short maceration, a wine of little structure but,
interestingly, more fragrance.
Dr Sylvie Bureau and her colleagues have investigated the influence of light
intensities as well as temperature variations in the build-up of carotenoids in the grapes.
These are precursors of the olfactory norisoprenoids in the grapes. As the season
advances the quantity of norisoprenoids increases and while that of carotenoids de-
creases. The exact ratio depends on the microclimate around each grape.
An aspect of climate usually neglected is the variation in the direction and speed of
the wind. This has been investigated by Dr Alain Jacquet and his colleagues; this has to
be included in Morlat's concept of UNTB (Unite Naturelle Terroir de Base).
Some of the most fundamental research in Europe on terroir parameters has been
done at the two research stations at Geisenheim in the Rheingau, and a summary of
recent results was presented by Drs D. Hoppmann and Klaus Schaller. This work
embraces both climatic aspects with their exact measurements of the total energy income
on the ground surface per square centimetre from solar radiation, including variations of
exposure and inclination. Thus, for the Rheingau, they recommend for Riesling a
threshold level of more than 200 kj cm" 2 . Quoting from their abstract, with slight
rewording:
The solar radiation in spring and autumn is important in favoured and
excellent years, followed by soil water capacity. In gentle sites the soil organic
CONFERENCE REPORT 53
matter is also important. Over eleven years ... in gentle vineyard sites the soil
radiation and altitude have the greatest influence. In steep vineyards, the
altitude, soil water-capacity and solar radiation are the most significant. Over
a six year period measurements of the soil parameters show that the must
density correlates with the amount of soluble P in the subsoil, whilst the acidity
varies inversely with it.
Ground Conditions
The thickness of soil over a single lithology can vary enormously. Thus, on the
metamorphic rocks of the western Loire, particularly on mica-schists, Dr Robert Wyns
has found that the weathering profile ranges over 15—50 m in vineyard areas. Effectively,
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on higher ground the vine roots will be entirely in clay, even though the geological map
would indicate unaltered schists coming close to the surface.
Remarkably similar results have been obtained by Dr Jean-Pierre Rossignol in his
study of the soils of Bonnezeaux. It has been widely assumed that this is produced on
almost unweathered schists with very thin soils. In fact, there are enormous variations in
the thickness of the soil (from less than 0.2 m to more than 1.2 m) and although some
three-quarters of the area is over sandy-slates of the Ordovician to Devonian plus
Namurian, there is also gentler topography in the eastern part over Cenomanian
argillaceous sands and conglomerates. The textbook situation only exists over about a
third of the western part of the appellation. There are also marked variations in the types
of soil and drainage conditions.
Dr Rene Morlat also emphasised that 1:50 000 geological maps are not an adequate
measure of the lateral variations in ground conditions. He has developed a methodology
for the characterisation of ground in vineyards, which gives a pattern which is related to
the geology, but the variation in his UNTB is not the same.
Dr Franck Brossaud and his colleagues have shown that much of the organic
chemistry of the grape juice is related to the UNTB (Asselin et ai, 1983; Pages et al.
1987). We are beginning to learn of variation in the uptake of ions by different cepages.
Thus, Dr Cornelis van Leeuven has found that Merlot contains more K + than Cabernet
Franc. He has also found that the ionic resources in clays are not fully used by the roots,
whereas in conglomerates (sol graveleux) the full potential is exploited.
Dr Larry Williams (University of California at Davis) has made experiments on the
relation between quantities of water supplied to Chardonnay grapevines in the Carneros
district and the activity of the vines, the accumulation of soluble solids and acidity in the
grapes. Possibly the most interesting aspect of the results is that the best quality wine
came from vines which had been supplied with 75-100% of full vineyard evapotranspi-
ration. He has also found that all the behaviour of the vines related to water consump-
tion, e.g. stomata activity, removal of water from the ground, etc. is all in tandem.
Therefore, one can measure water-use activity by measuring any one activity dependent
on water.
While there are records of vine roots of remarkable length, the pattern of the root
system is still poorly known, as Drs William Trambouze and M. Voltz emphasised. Using
Syrah vines in Herault, grown on 1 m of argillaceous silt overlying a sandy silt, they
found that no nourishment entered the roots below 2.5 m, even though the roots went
down more deeply than that. The maximum extraction was at a depth around 1 m or
a little more. It is interesting to compare these figures with those obtained by INRA at
Colmar where on loess, i.e. silt, the maximum concentration of roots is in the top 0.3 m
(more than 400 per m2), but these vines can suffer more rapid and more intense water
54 J. HANCOCK
problems. These workers also note that roots which penetrate joints in granite to depths
of several metres use these deeper roots for water alone rather than nutrition.
Concluding Remarks
Inevitably, this is only a selection of the research presented, which is due to be published
in the proceedings of the symposium. It is clear that a start has been made on the ways
in which terroir can control the ultimate character of its wine. These are features which
can come through in spite of all the controls which the maker can apply, a fact known
in Europe (e.g. Bohmrich, 1996) but so often doubted in North America (e.g. Jackson,
1994). It is hardly surprising when one remembers that concentrations of phenols and
probably esters in wine can influence flavour and taste to the human palate in
concentrations of no more than 1 mg I" 1 . What we do not really know are the
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quantitative parameters of terroir, nor its relative importance to the final product. It may
be possible for the expert palate to distinguish terroirs in different wines, but does it matter
to the customer? All the research presented in Angers is only a beginning, but it was a
good beginning. How silly for those scientists from the University of Bordeaux to boycott
this meeting.
References
ASSELIN, C. et al. (1983) Science des Aliments, 7, 549-571.
BOHMRICH, R. (1996) Terroir: competing perspectives on the role of soil, climate and people, Journal
of Wine Research, 1, 33-46.
JACKSON, R.S. (1994) Wine Science, San Diego: Academic Press.
PAGES et al. (1987) Journal International Science Vigne Vin, 29, 129-154.
