Terroir in New Wine Regions - Possible Scientific Reasons for Terroir and Its Effect on Marketing and Tourism - Case Study Example

Terroir in New Wine Regions Name: University: Course: Lecturer: Executive Summary Terroir encompasses all aspects of wine production which, working together, produces wine of certain quality and character. This paper examines terroir in all its aspects including possible scientific reasons for terroir and its effect on marketing and tourism. It focuses on South Africa as a case study for this issue and specifically the Nederburg winery which is one of the oldest and grandest wineries in South Africa. The soil science, topography, climate and microbes are all discussed from a terroir perspective in this paper. At the end, based on the findings, it gives conclusions and recommendations on the way forward on how best to make wines unique in character and quality. Introduction South Africa is currently the seventh largest wine producer in the world with most wineries in the Cape region. According to Carey, 2001, Stellenbosch which is to the east of Cape Town is the premium wine producing region in the country. Wines produced in South Africa tend to have lower alcohol content than those produced elsewhere. South African wine makers mostly study in Europe, particularly in France and therefore terroir had been largely exported to South Africa. Over the 350 years of wine making there has been established many wineries with the number currently standing at approximately 4500 in the whole country. One of the 4500 Nederburg Winery has been in existence for over 200 years it has, over time, established itself as one of the leading wineries in South Africa. Nederburg Winery has the largest number of products in the entire southern hemisphere. Nederburg’s tag line is that their wine is not made, it is grown which is a clear indication of the importance they place on terroir to give them a competitive edge with the uniqueness of their products from the seeds to the vineyard all the way to the winery (Bruwer, 2013). Soil science There is red soil and the yellow-brown soil is found in the Paarl region of the cape where the Nederburg winery is located. For a winery that is founded on the belief that good wine starts in the vineyard, soil quality is of critical importance. Apart from the soil found in the location of the winery at Paarl, soils from other areas including Durbanville and Stellenbosch affect the character of the Nedeburg inventory. This is because to produce the wide variety of wines, there has to be blending of grapes sourced from different vineyards all over the cape region to supplement the ones grown in the Nederburg winery and their vineyard in Darling. Nederburg like many other New World wineries approach to terroir is largely based on soil mapping than anything else. The red and yellowish red soils in Paarl region are fruitier but lack the natural acidity of the Sauvignon Blanc grown in Durbanville which has soils of shale origin. Chardonnay requires soils containing chalk. These soils are not is not widespread in the area Paarl region therefore, chardonnay is, due to suitability of soils grown in the Western Cape region. Local Chenin Blanc, as a result of Paarl soils, having relatively higher limestone percentage has a higher level of acidity. To make Nederburg’s Chenin Blanc sweet, grapes have to be sourced from other areas with higher percentages of clay soil like the coastal areas of Durbanville (Conradie et al.,2002; Saayman, 2002). Topography Woolridge & Beukes, 2003 argue that the topography of the location of a winery is an important determinant of the quality and character of the wine produced in the winery. This is because the quality of grapes produced in a vineyard is greatly determined by the climate of the vineyard’s location. The climate of the location is, in turn, determined to some extent by the topography of the area. In some vineyards that are steep, planting vines at different elevations has different effects viticulturally. The magnitude of the difference from the thermal belt whether downwards or upwards has an effect on the character of the grapes and therefore the wine. When a vineyard is located on a steep slope there is often not a lot of nutrients in the soil which forces the vine roots to venture deep in search of nutrients. This depth of roots ensures that the grapes have the unique terroir of intense aroma and a higher level of freshness than those produced on a more flat terrain. The location of Nederburg Winery is mid-way, it is neither too steep nor too flat the difference is small since the vineyard at the winery is only 49ha in area. This ensures that the variance in taste and composition occasioned by differences in the topology where grapes are produced is minimal (Carey, Archer & Saayman, 2002). Climate and Microclimate. The variety of grapes produced in a region is a direct factor of the climate. While a grape variety is grown outside its recommended climatic zone, its typicity may be compromised. Climate can be divided into three, macroclimate, mesoclimate and macroclimate. In viticulture classification of climates is founded on Koppen Climate Classification which characterizes viticultural climates into Mediterranean, Maritime and Continental (Bonnardot et al., 2002). In South Africa where there is no Mediterranean climate and all wineries are located in the cape region thus falling under maritime climate. (Carey et al.,2002) Bonnardot et al., 2002 further explain that the mesoclimate of a vineyard refers to the extent to which the physical characteristics of the chosen site can influence changes in macroclimate of an area thus causing the climate in a vineyard to deviate from the macro climate to varying extents. It is on the basis of meso-climate that site decisions are made in as far as suitability of an area as a location for a winery is concerned and thereafter, the variety of grapes to be grown. There over 60 varieties of vines grown in Nederburg. Due to advances in technology, it is now possible to foretell the climate at a micro level in areas as small as 2x2 Km thus the possibility of establishing to what extent a vineyard’s terroir is attributable to meso and micro climate Carey et al., 2002). Microbes and Yeasts Recent research has attributed terroir to the difference in microbes that grow on the surface of the grapes in different regions. These microbes include yeast and they have an effect on the fermentation process. Through DNA bar coding, it has been reliably established that certain Microbes are unique to specific varieties of grapes grown in specific place. The composition of these microbes is sufficiently stable to influence the terroir of the resulting wine. This is a relatively new area of research in oenology and viticulture and extensive research has not been done in our case winery of Nederburg to establish which microbes are present and what effect they have on the winery terroir. Neighboring vegetation also affects terroir due to transfer of microbes from the neighboring vegetation to the vineyard(Bokulich et al., 2013; Bulgarelli et al., 2013; Sabate et al., 2002) Terroir in Marketing and Tourism. Terroir is important in marketing since it allows customers to look for wines that meet their specific tastes according to regional distinctions and distinctions specific to wineries. Vignerons in the New World attribute terroir to soil more than any other factor. Nederburg prides itself as a place where wine is grown, not made. This winery has a large variety of wines, the largest in the southern hemisphere, which is another marketing line which is clearly designed to attract as many wine enthusiasts as possible without having them change their preferences, the large variety of products is part of Nuderburg’s terroir. Nederburg has been a winner of the international wine tourism award with visitor mainly visiting the winery and not necessarily the vineyards. The mystery of terroir makes wine marketing very region specific and wine lovers from far of lands often find the thought of visiting the source of the enchanting wine as magical. The tourist attraction is not just in order to see how the tourists’ favourite wine is produced in a winery but more emphasis have now been laid the experiential aspect of these tours. In the Nederburg auction catalogue, however, it is clear that the emphasis is still largely on the wine itself as opposed to the wine country. The wine country tourist attraction seems to be tilted in favour of the old world wine producers like Bordeaux, Sonoma, Napa etc (Bruwer 2003). Conclusion Consideration of all these issues that the impact of the soil, topography, climate and microbes the grapes and hence on terroir cannot be ignored, while other factors including the wine making process could affect the quality and character of wine terroir has its place. The mysticism that has surrounded the whole concept of terroir seems to be at the point of being cracked wide open by the recent research on the microbial effect on the character of wine. This might spell a death knell to wine tourism for any other reason than historical sentimentality since the mystery will be gone. While the effects of microbe research may not have adverse effects on the mystery of terroir immediately, they will eventually. Recommendations While South Africa has been a wine producer for over 300 years, the research done on the wine in the country is relatively little and more needs to be done to ensure better wine making in future. Since the microbes research seems to be lifting the veil on terroir, it would help if wineries the world over started marketing wine on other factors also, including health benefits and not just mystery. Finally, wine tourism ought, now, to also be based more on scenery and other traditional tourist attractions and not just terroir. References Bonnardot, V., Planchon, O., Carey, V. and Cautenet, S., 2002. Diurnal wind, relative humidity and temperature variation in the Stellenbosch-Groot Drakenstein wine-growing area. S. Afr. J.Enol. Vitic., 23(2), 62-71. Bokulich, N.A., Thorngate, J.H., Richardson, P.M., Mills, D.A., 2013. Microbial biogeography of wine grapes is conditioned by cultivar, vintage, and climate. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 10.1073/pnas.1317377110 Bruwer, J., 2003. South African wine routes: some perspectives on the wine tourism industry’s structural dimensions and wine tourism product. Tourism Management, 24 (4), 23–435 Bulgarelli D, Schlaeppi K, Spaepen S, Ver Loren van Themaat E, Schulze-Lefert P., 2013 Structure and functions of the bacterial microbiota of plants. Annu Rev Plant Biol 64:807 Carey, V., 2001. Spatial characterisation of natural terroir units for viticulture in the Bottelaryberg-Simonsberg-Helderberg winegrowing area. M.Sc. Agric. Thesis, Univ. of Stellenbosch, RSA. Carey, V., Archer, E. & Saayman, D., 2002. Identification of natural terroir units for viticulture: Stellenbosch, South Africa. In: Proc. IVth Int. Symp. Viticultural Zoning, 17-20 June, Avignon, France. Conradie, W.J., Carey, V., Bonnardot, V., Saayman, D. & Van Schoor, L.H., 2002. Effects of different environmental factors on the performance of Sauvignon blanc grapevines in the Stellenbosch/Durbanville districts of South Africa. I. Geology, soil, climate, phenology and grape composition. S. Afr. J. Enol. Vitic., 23(2), 78-91. Saayman, D., 2002. Practical aspects of viticultural zoning in South Africa. In: IVth International Symposium on Viticultural Zoning, 17-20 June 2002, Avignon, France. Sabate J, Cano J, Esteve-Zarzoso B, Guillamón JM 2002. Isolation and identification of yeasts associated with vineyard and winery by RFLP analysis of ribosomal genes and mitochondrial DNA. Microbiol Res157(4):267–274. Woolridge, J., &Beukes, H., 2003. Topography and solar interception in the Stellenbosch district. A geographic information systems approach. Part I. Landscape, slope and aspect. Wynboer nr. 163, Feb. 2003, 74-76. Read More