SimonaSimona FratianniFratianni CLIMATECLIMATE ANDAND TERROIRTERROIR ININ PIEDMONT:PIEDMONT: CASECASE --STUDYSTUDY OFOF LANGHELANGHE ’’SS CUESTASCUESTAS INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP “A TASTE OF INNOVATION: SCIENCE FACTS ABOUT PIEDMONT TERROIR” GUARENE, 13-14 NOVEMBER 2010 DipartimentoDipartimento didi ScienzeScienze delladella TerraTerra UniversitUniversit àà deglidegli StudiStudi didi TorinoTorino VITICULTURAL AREAS InIn CuestasCuestas LangheLanghe oneone ofof thethe mostmost importantimportant vineyardsvineyards inin thethe PiedmontesePiedmontese grapegrape --growinggrowing industryindustry isis cultivated:cultivated: thethe Nebbiolo.Nebbiolo. ThanksThanks toto thethe qualityquality ofof itsits grapesgrapes ,, wineswines ratedrated amongamong thethe mostmost valuablevaluable onon aa nationalnational andand internationalinternational levellevel likelike Barolo,Barolo, oneone ofof thethe firstfirst D.O.C.G.D.O.C.G. (D.P.R.(D.P.R. JulyJuly 1st1st 1980)1980) inin ItalyItaly cancan bebe producedproduced .. ClimateClimate andand terroirterroir Quality and peculiarity of any wine are tightly connected to the type of climate. Its variations both in time and space, on the macro and meso -climatic scale affect the type of wine. Meteorological stations Temperature is the most According to the important parameter “European in the vine vineyards map ” vegetative cycle. carried out by the Comit é Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC, 1998, 2001) the area of Cuestas Langhe is classified as “cold terroir ”. Limit dictated by the isothermal 10 °C WinterWinter frostfrost daysdays DuringDuring wintertimewintertime temperaturetemperature minimumminimum belowbelow --1515 °°CC maymay damagedamage thethe rootroot systemsystem (A.O.C.,(A.O.C., 2001).2001). MOMBARCARO - 896 m 35 25 15 5 T (°C) T -5 -15 01/01/1990 01/01/1991 01/01/1992 01/01/1993 01/01/1994 01/01/1995 01/01/1996 01/01/1997 01/01/1998 01/01/1999 01/01/2000 01/01/2001 01/01/2002 01/01/2003 01/01/2004 01/01/2005 01/01/2006 01/01/2007 01/01/2008 01/01/2009 01/01/2010 In all the considered stations, the minimum temperature never dropped below -15 °C. The lowest T, -13.8 °C was registered at Mombarcaro (the highest station = 896 m) in December 1991. VineyardVineyard phenologicalphenological phasesphases BUDDING VERAISON Early , Middle early , I decade April II decade August BLOSSOMING MATURATION Early , Late , I decade June II/III decade October SpringSpring frostfrost daysdays The late frosts FROST DAYS 4,0 7,0 will affect 3,5 6,0 vegetation and 3,0 5,0 2,5 4,0 2,0 the rest of the 3,0 1,5 vegetative cycle . 1,0 2,0 0,5 1,0 It should be 0,0 0,0 checked Treiso Mango Rodello Dogliani Roddino Somano Prunetto La La Morra Feisoglio especially in May Belvedere (shoot period ), Mombarcaro if T <3 °C. I déc II dec III dec ∑ April May T ≤3°C The disasters caused by spring frosts: The frost damage are related to Right: healthy bud; left: frost bud the content in water bodies , so that the dormant buds are frost resistant , while the young sprouts are damaged already below 3 °C (Crema, 2003). ThermalThermal sumsum Vine needs to accumulate a certain amount of useful temperature degrees (GDD = Growing Degree Days) beyond the threshold of 10 °C/day. 2500 Cold temperate zone > 1648 °C 2000 Cold zone <1371 °C 1500 At least 1000 °C from April to September ( Fribourg , 1989 ) 1000 THERMAL LIMIT 500 Warm temperate zone (1372 -1647 °C) 0 °C MANGO TREISO SOMANO DOGLIANI RODDINO RODELLO LA MORRA LA FEISOGLIO PRUNETTO Viticultural stations BELVEDERE MOMBARCARO THERMAL SUM 10°C HUGLIN INDEX WINKLER INDEX PrecipitationPrecipitation 300 winter threshold min 100 mm spring threshold max 300 250 Winter >100 mm Spring < 300 mm 200 150 100 50 mm 0 Treiso Mango Rodello Dogliani Somano Roddino Prunetto La Morra Feisoglio Belvedere Mombarcaro Winter Precipitation Spring Precipitation SpringSpring precipitationprecipitation valuesvalues >> 300300 mmmm plasmoparaplasmopara viticolaviticola WinterWinter precipitationprecipitation valuesvalues >> 100100 mmmm storagestorage DryDry periodperiod TheThe vinevine isis aa xerophilousxerophilous plantplant ,, itit needsneeds aa waterwater --poorpoor soilsoil .. AllAll thethe stationsstations havehave aa drydry periodperiod inin thethe summersummer .. ThisThis isis aa climaticclimatic peculiaritypeculiarity inin PiedmontPiedmont andand itit meansmeans thatthat thethe LangheLanghe areaarea isis suitablesuitable forfor viticultureviticulture .. 60 BELVEDERE LANGHE 30 50 25 40 DRY 20 PERIOD 30 15 20 10 10 5 0 0 July May April June March August October January Febraury P (mm) Tav (°C) November December September AmmanAmman indexindex (AI(AI == P*TP*T /E)/E) hashas highlightedhighlighted thethe differencedifference betweenbetween thethe continentalcontinental stationsstations ((MombarcaroMombarcaro ,, PrunettoPrunetto andand FeisoglioFeisoglio ),), wherewhere thethe viticultureviticulture isis limitedlimited toto thethe bestbest exposedexposed slopesslopes andand thethe moremore mediterraneanmediterranean stationsstations ((DoglianiDogliani ,, LaLa Morra,Morra, BelvedereBelvedere LangheLanghe ,, RodelloRodello ,, TreisoTreiso ,, RoddinoRoddino ,, MangoMango andand SomanoSomano )) wherewhere itit isis practicedpracticed .. Nebbiolo cultivation limit Meteorological stations TheThe limitlimit ofof viticultureviticulture isis aroundaround 600600 mm andand thethe vinevine NebbioloNebbiolo isis notnot performedperformed inin thethe easterneastern andand southernsouthern partpart ofof thethe LangheLanghe areaarea (yellow(yellow horizontalhorizontal lineslines ).). TheThe climateclimate doesdoes notnot directlydirectly contributecontribute toto thethe determinationdetermination ofof thethe terroirterroir butbut itit isis stillstill thethe mostmost importantimportant physicalphysical factorfactor thatthat limitslimits andand conditionsconditions thethe vinevine ’’ss cultivationcultivation andand growthgrowth .. ClimaticClimatic changechange InIn thethe lastlast yearsyears aa markedmarked increaseincrease inin temperaturestemperatures hashas beenbeen recordedrecorded ,, particularlyparticularly inin thethe minimumminimum valuesvalues (0.7(0.7 °°C/50yC/50y inin PiedmontPiedmont ).). IfIf thisthis trendtrend willwill bebe confirmedconfirmed ,, inin thethe comingcoming yearsyears thethe vineyardsvineyards cultivationcultivation limitslimits couldcould riserise significantlysignificantly .. ThankThank youyou forfor youryour attentionattention !!.