Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment (DAFE) University of Pisa, Italy Ph.D thesis IN SCIENCE OF CROP PRODUCTION XXIV Cycle (2009-2011) AGR/03 The qualitative characterization of ‘Sangiovese’ grapevine according to the area and cultivation conditions CANDIDATE Eleonora Ducci TUTORS COORDINATOR Prof. Giancarlo Scalabrelli Prof. Alberto Pardossi Dr. Claudio D‟Onofrio November 2013 Life is wonderful all you need is to look at it with the ‘right eyes’ TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Sangiovese cultivar ................................................................................................. 1 1.1.1 Adaptability of the soil ................................................................................. 5 1.1.2 Adaptability to temperatures ......................................................................... 6 1.1.3 Adaptability to rootstock .............................................................................. 7 1.1.4 Adaptation to the training system and density of plantation ........................ 8 1.1.5 Adaptability to summer pruning ................................................................... 9 1.2 The terroir ............................................................................................................. 12 1.2.1 The terroir and its evolution ....................................................................... 12 1.2.2 The vineyard factors ................................................................................... 16 1.2.3 Terroir of Tuscany ...................................................................................... 19 1.3 Aim of the thesis ................................................................................................... 22 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS ........................................................................... 23 2.1 Plant material ........................................................................................................ 23 2.2 Technological maturity ......................................................................................... 25 2.3 Sensory analysis on grapes ................................................................................... 25 2.4 Phenolic compounds analysis ............................................................................... 27 2.5 Aroma compounds analysis .................................................................................. 27 2.5.1 Preparation of grape sample ....................................................................... 28 2.5.2 Enzymatic hydrolysis of glycosides ........................................................... 28 2.5.3 Acid hydrolysis of glycosides ..................................................................... 29 2.5.4 Gas chromatography – mass spectrometry ................................................. 29 2.6 Statistical analysis ................................................................................................. 30 3. RESULTS ................................................................................................................ 31 3.1 Weather station location and study of the historical sequences ............................ 31 3.2 Climatic characteristics ......................................................................................... 35 3.3 Vineyards‟s characteristics ................................................................................... 43 3.3.1 Chianti Colline Pisane ................................................................................ 43 3.3.1.1 Beconcini estate ................................................................................ 43 3.3.2 Montecucco ................................................................................................. 44 3.3.2.1 ColleMassari estate ........................................................................... 44 3.3.2.2 Salustri estate ................................................................................... 47 3.3.3 Morellino di Scansano ................................................................................ 48 3.3.3.1 Fattoria di Magliano estate ............................................................... 48 3.3.4 Brunello di Montalcino ............................................................................... 49 3.3.4.1 Col d‟Orcia estate ............................................................................. 49 3.3.4.2 La Mannella estate ............................................................................ 49 3.3.4.3 Casanova di Neri estate .................................................................... 50 3.3.5 Chianti Classico .......................................................................................... 51 3.3.5.1 Castello di Albola estate ................................................................... 51 3.3.5.2 Capannelle estate .............................................................................. 51 3.4. Soil‟s characteristics ............................................................................................ 52 3.5 The study of geopedologic, orographic and viticultural aspects: the ColleMassari estate .................................................................................................................... 56 3.5.1 Campo La Mora ......................................................................................... 58 3.5.2 Cerrete ........................................................................................................ 60 3.5.3 Orto del Prete ............................................................................................. 63 3.5.4 Vigna Vecchia ............................................................................................ 65 3.6 Harvest date .......................................................................................................... 69 3.7 Sensorial characteristics of the grapes at harvest‟s time ...................................... 70 3.7.1 Montecucco area ........................................................................................ 86 3.7.2 Col d‟Orcia estate ..................................................................................... 103 3.8. Technological and phenolic characteristics of the grapes at harvest‟s time ..... 119 3.8.1 Montecucco area ...................................................................................... 131 3.8.2 Col d‟Orcia estate ..................................................................................... 143 3.9 Aroma characteristics of the grapes at harvest‟s time ....................................... 156 3.9.1 Montecucco area ...................................................................................... 173 3.9.2 Col d‟Orcia estate ..................................................................................... 184 4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS ............................................................... 195 5. REFERENCES ..................................................................................................... 202 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Sangiovese cultivar Sangiovese is the base vine variety of Tuscan enology as it is the main component of the 7 Tuscan DOCG, since its presence varies from a minimum of 50% to a maximum of 100%: „Brunello di Montalcino‟ (100%), „Carmignano‟ (50%), „Chianti‟ (70-100%), „Chianti Classico‟ (80-100%), „Morellino di Scansano‟ (85%), „Montecucco‟ (90%) and „Nobile di Montepulciano‟ (70%). It has many synonyms, the official one reported in National Register of the Varieties of Vines, „Sangioveto‟, and others certified as „Brunello‟ (Tuscany), „Morellino‟ (Scansano-Grosseto), „Nielluccio‟ (Corse, FR), „Prugnolo‟ (Tuscany), „Prugnole gentile‟, „Sangiogheto‟, „Sangiovese grosso‟, „Sangiovese piccolo‟, „Sangioveto montanino‟, „San Zoveto‟, „Uvetta‟ (www.vitisdb.it). Reconstructing the origin of this vine is not easy since there is a lack of historical reference antecedent the XVI century. The importance of this variety in wine production in central Italy and its leading role today in Italian enology justifies the interest in searching the origin of its name. Due to lack of accurate references it was first thought that it recalled the idea of blood, one of the symbols linked to wine and to offering sacrifices to the gods, the blood of Jove (sanguis Jovis). The semantics of the word recalls a game (jugum), and sustains the hypothesis of sangue-gio-vese, hill games; another hypothesis is that of wine „giovevole al sangue‟ (Mainardi 2001). Other connections have been hypothesized with language and popular customs, between the Etruscan language, religious aspects and the meaning of the term „Sangiovese‟. An Etruscan phrase was found on a bandage used to wrap an Egyptian mummy of the first century AD, it read „s‟antist‟celi‟ with the word „vinum‟ and it is thought that it referred to a type of wine as it is very close in assonance to terms that describe „Sangiovese‟. Other assonances linked to rituals and „Sangiovese‟, as in thana-chvil (votive offering), tbcms.zusleva (ritual offering), thezin-eis (offering to the god), which is very close to the Romagnolo term sanzve used for „Sangiovese‟, this term means father or ancestor to mean the wine of my father‟s or an offering to the fathers (Mainardi, 2001). Linking the origin of the Sangiovese vine variety to the Etruscan culture is fascinating, recent discoveries, the close relationship