Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | SOIL Discuss., 1, 827–906, 2014 www.soil-discuss.net/1/827/2014/ doi:10.5194/soild-1-827-2014 SOILD © Author(s) 2014. CC Attribution 3.0 License. 1, 827–906, 2014 This discussion paper is/has been under review for the journal SOIL. Please refer to the Overview of terroir corresponding final paper in SOIL if available. research An overview of the recent approaches for E. Vaudour et al. terroir functional modelling, footprinting Title Page and zoning Abstract Introduction Conclusions References E. Vaudour1,2, E. Costantini3, G. V. Jones4, and S. Mocali3 Tables Figures 1AgroParisTech, UMR 1091 INRA/AgroParisTech “ Environnement et Grandes Cultures”, Equipe Sol, avenue Lucien Brétignières 78850 Thiverval-Grignon, France 2INRA, UMR 1091 INRA/AgroParisTech “ Environnement et Grandes Cultures”, Equipe Sol, J I avenue Lucien Brétignières 78850 Thiverval-Grignon, France J I 3Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Centro di Ricerca per l’Agrobiologia e la Pedologia, CRA-ABP D’Azeglio 30 Firenze 50121, Italy Back Close 4 Department of Environmental Studies 101A Taylor Hall, Ashland, OR 97520, USA Full Screen / Esc Received: 29 October 2014 – Accepted: 31 October 2014 – Published: 20 November 2014 Printer-friendly Version Correspondence to: E. Vaudour ([email protected]) Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. Interactive Discussion 827 Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Abstract SOILD Notions of terroir and their conceptualization through agri-environmental sciences have become popular in many parts of world. Originally developed for wine, terroir now en- 1, 827–906, 2014 compasses many other crops including fruits, vegetables, cheese, olive oil, coffee, ca- 5 cao and other crops, linking the uniqueness and quality of both beverages and foods Overview of terroir to the environment where they are produced, giving the consumer a sense of place. research Climate, geology, geomorphology, and soil are the main environmental factors which compose the terroir effect at different scales. Often considered immutable at the cultural E. Vaudour et al. scale, the natural components of terroir are actually a set of processes, which together 10 create a delicate equilibrium and regulation of its effect on products in both space and time. Due to both a greater need to better understand regional to site variations in Title Page crop production and the growth in spatial analytic technologies, the study of terroir has Abstract Introduction shifted from a largely descriptive regional science to a more applied, technical research field. Furthermore, the explosion of spatial data availability and sensing technologies Conclusions References 15 has made the within-field scale of study more valuable to the individual grower. The Tables Figures result has been greater adoption but also issues associated with both the spatial and temporal scales required for practical applications, as well as the relevant approaches J I for data synthesis. Moreover, as soil microbial communities are known to be of vital importance for terrestrial processes by driving the major soil geochemical cycles and J I 20 supporting healthy plant growth, an intensive investigation of the microbial organization Back Close and their function is also required. Our objective is to present an overview of existing data and modelling approaches for terroir functional modelling, footprinting and zoning Full Screen / Esc at local and regional scales. This review will focus on three main areas of recent ter- roir research: (1) quantifying the influences of terroir components on plant growth, fruit Printer-friendly Version 25 composition and quality, mostly examining climate-soil-water relationships and/or using Interactive Discussion new tools to unravel the biogeochemical cycles of both macro- and micronutrients, the functional diversity of terroirs and the chemical signature of products for authentifica- tion (the metagenomic approach and the regional fingerprinting); (2) terroir zoning at 828 Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | different scales: mapping terroirs and using remote and proxy sensing technologies to monitor soil quality and manage the crop system for a better food quality; and (3) terroir SOILD sustainability assessment and new preservation practices. 1, 827–906, 2014 1 Introduction Overview of terroir research 5 The keyword “terroir” in the Scopus database leads to identifying 385 papers published from 1980 to 2014 (September) including a steady rise from 2005 to 2014 (Fig. 1). This E. Vaudour et al. trend provides evidence of the ever-growing interest of the scientific community in un- derstanding the characteristics and relationships between the many factors in terroir. “Terroir” is a French word, meaning delimited areas with homogeneous environmen- Title Page 10 tal features that are likely to confer typical wine qualities identified through collective memory and conveyed from generation to generation within a territory marked by so- Abstract Introduction cial context and cultural technical choices (Vaudour, 2002, 2003). The tradition of terroir Conclusions References wines has strong cultural connections, referring to traditions of good drinking, of farm- Tables Figures ing and producing typical wines that are rooted in a region or made from specific places 15 with organoleptic features easily recognizable from other wines from other regions. In France these are sometimes named “crus”, “clos” and, in the case of Burgundy, “cli- J I mats”. The making of a typical wine originating from a given terroir unit implies that J I fields or subfields be assigned to this unit for merging grapes of one or several specific Back Close varieties into containers within a winery: as such winegrowing terroirs need to be man- 20 aged across the geographical space. Both Greek and Latin agronomists developed and Full Screen / Esc used recommendations for the spatial management of terroirs, as exemplified by the Amos farming leases dating back the High Hellenistic period. These leases discrimi- Printer-friendly Version nated between vineyards planted on the “plains” and vineyards planted in “rocky ter- Interactive Discussion rains”, with differing prescriptions for vineyard planting densities (Vaudour and Boulay, 25 2013). Inherited from medieval times and monasteries, high resolution grapevine selec- tion from small-sized fields of some hundreds of square meters has long been practiced for the making of famous crus in small volumes (barrels of 200 hL) (Dion, 1990; Unwin, 829 Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | 1994). In that sense, the shaping of terroirs results from a long heuristic process (likely hundreds of years) through History marked with discontinuities due to wars, spread of SOILD plagues, and wine market opportunities. For centuries, such heuristic processes have 1, 827–906, 2014 mostly been carried out on less fertile soils (fertile soils being reserved to annual crop 5 cultivation) and without resorting to irrigation, thus accentuating multi-year variability due to vintage weather (“millésime” effect). As an entity distributed over space and Overview of terroir time, terroir has cultural aspects that have heritage, landscape, and reputation value- research added components (Tomasi et al., 2013), that come from historical empirically-derived technical adjustments, the transmission of taste typicity over generations, and strong E. Vaudour et al. 10 gastronomical traditions. On the other hand, the agri-environmental aspects of terroir are likely to be conceptualized, in order to characterize, delineate and monitor zones Title Page with homogeneous or outstanding grape and/or wine, soil, geomorphological, geolog- ical, landscape, and climate characteristics at a given spatial level and over a given Abstract Introduction duration. This process may be in the nascent stages of understanding vineyard spatial Conclusions References 15 management in young winegrowing regions, or refined in those winegrowing regions with long-lived wine traditions. Tables Figures At the international scale, a definition focused on the agri-environmental facets of terroir was adopted in 2010 by the International Vine and Wine Organization (resolution J I OIV/VITI 333/2010): J I 20 an area in which collective knowledge of the interactions between the iden- tifiable physical and biological environment and applied vitivinicultural prac- Back Close tices develops, providing distinctive characteristics of the products originat- Full Screen / Esc ing from this area. “Terroir ” includes specific soil, topography, climate, land- scape characteristics and biodiversity features. Printer-friendly Version 25 Originally developed for wine, approaches for defining terroirs are now being carried Interactive Discussion to other specialty crops such as coffee (e.g., De Assis Silva et al., 2014), tea (e.g., Besky, 2014), tequila (Bowen and Zapata, 2009), honey, maple syrup, cacao, olive oil, fruits, vegetables, and cheese (Trubek, 2008; Jacobsen, 2010), ultimately linking the uniqueness and quality of both beverages and foods to the environment where they 830 Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | Discussion Paper | are produced. The trend for providing the consumer a sense of place has historically developed alongside the legal protection of these products,