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Terroir

About: Terroir is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 497 publications have been published within this topic receiving 8053 citations.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that grape-associated microbial biogeography is nonrandomly associated with regional, varietal, and climatic factors across multiscale viticultural zones, posing the existence of nonrandom “microbial terroir” as a determining factor in regional variation among wine grapes.
Abstract: Wine grapes present a unique biogeography model, wherein microbial biodiversity patterns across viticultural zones not only answer questions of dispersal and community maintenance, they are also an inherent component of the quality, consumer acceptance, and economic appreciation of a culturally important food product. On their journey from the vineyard to the wine bottle, grapes are transformed to wine through microbial activity, with indisputable consequences for wine quality parameters. Wine grapes harbor a wide range of microbes originating from the surrounding environment, many of which are recognized for their role in grapevine health and wine quality. However, determinants of regional wine characteristics have not been identified, but are frequently assumed to stem from viticultural or geological factors alone. This study used a high-throughput, short-amplicon sequencing approach to demonstrate that regional, site-specific, and grape-variety factors shape the fungal and bacterial consortia inhabiting wine-grape surfaces. Furthermore, these microbial assemblages are correlated to specific climatic features, suggesting a link between vineyard environmental conditions and microbial inhabitation patterns. Taken together, these factors shape the unique microbial inputs to regional wine fermentations, posing the existence of nonrandom “microbial terroir” as a determining factor in regional variation among wine grapes.

710 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The best expression of terroir is achieved when the precocity of the grapevine variety is suited to the local climatic conditions in such a way that full ripeness is reached by the end of the growing season as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Terroir is a highly important concept in viticulture because it relates the sensory attributes of wine to the environmental conditions in which the grapes are grown. Quality hierarchy and wine style may, to a considerable extent, be explained by terroir. However, terroir is difficult to study on a scientific basis because many factors are involved, including climate, soil, cultivar and human practices, and these factors interact. The best expression of terroir is achieved when the precocity of the grapevine variety is suited to the local climatic conditions in such a way that full ripeness is reached by the end of the growing season. For the production of high quality red wines, environmental conditions should induce moderate vine vigour, either through moderate water deficit stress or through low nitrogen supply. These conditions are most frequently met on shallow or stony soils, in moderately dry climates. Regular but not excessive vine water and nitrogen supplies are needed to produce high qua...

526 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
06 Jul 2016-Mbio
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that both grape microbiota and wine metabolite profiles distinguish viticultural area designations and individual vineyards within Napa and Sonoma Counties, California, suggesting that the grape microbiome may influence terroir.
Abstract: Regionally distinct wine characteristics (terroir) are an important aspect of wine production and consumer appreciation. Microbial activity is an integral part of wine production, and grape and wine microbiota present regionally defined patterns associated with vineyard and climatic conditions, but the degree to which these microbial patterns associate with the chemical composition of wine is unclear. Through a longitudinal survey of over 200 commercial wine fermentations, we demonstrate that both grape microbiota and wine metabolite profiles distinguish viticultural area designations and individual vineyards within Napa and Sonoma Counties, California. Associations among wine microbiota and fermentation characteristics suggest new links between microbiota, fermentation performance, and wine properties. The bacterial and fungal consortia of wine fermentations, composed from vineyard and winery sources, correlate with the chemical composition of the finished wines and predict metabolite abundances in finished wines using machine learning models. The use of postharvest microbiota as an early predictor of wine chemical composition is unprecedented and potentially poses a new paradigm for quality control of agricultural products. These findings add further evidence that microbial activity is associated with wine terroir. IMPORTANCE Wine production is a multi-billion-dollar global industry for which microbial control and wine chemical composition are crucial aspects of quality. Terroir is an important feature of consumer appreciation and wine culture, but the many factors that contribute to terroir are nebulous. We show that grape and wine microbiota exhibit regional patterns that correlate with wine chemical composition, suggesting that the grape microbiome may influence terroir. In addition to enriching our understanding of how growing region and wine properties interact, this may provide further economic incentive for agricultural and enological practices that maintain regional microbial biodiversity.

272 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the combination of spatial modelling and geographical information system (GIS) data can update the concept of terroir provided the area, scale and resolution of each so-called terroIR unit are more carefully specified and fully related to viticultural data.
Abstract: Terroir has many facets. It has been related to: variety of plants and typical food products; territory, name, strategies of advertising and marketing. A viticultural terroir is seldom defined as a region which is related to a particular area with a distinct quality of grapes and their wines. The scale of analysis of the few available discussions by area range from local to a broad spatial coverage: ' local functional ' approaches emphasise quality controlled by ecology and physiology; ' spatial ' approaches depend on the diversity of viticultural environments from area to area. The combination of spatial modelling and geographical information system (GIS) data can update the concept of terroir provided the area, scale and resolution of each so-called terroir -unit are more carefully specified and fully related to viticultural data.

254 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the social, economic, and ecological impacts that the agave-tequila industry has had on one community in tequila's region of origin, the town of Amatitan.

225 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
202381
2022162
202138
202043
201944
201844