Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
it can be to the winemaker's advantage for these zones to be harvested separately,
allowing the making of wines of different styles or for different price points (see
“Managing Natural Soil Variability in a Vineyard,” chapter 6). Thus the appli-
cation of modern technology potentially closes the circle that began with the
identification of particular
terroirs
in monastic vineyards on the slopes of the
Côte d'Or centuries ago.
Regardless of whether or not vignerons pursue a
terroir
approach to wine-
growing, knowledge of soil properties, their variability, and how the soil can be
managed to achieve production objectives is an essential component of vineyard
management. Chapters 2 to 5 identify and describe the important soil properties
and soil management practices for viticulture. Chapter 6 reviews this soil knowl-
edge and considers how it can be used to achieve particular production objectives.
Summary Points
1. In popular parlance, the term “soil health” has replaced “soil quality,”
which refers to a soil's fitness for purpose. Soil health or soil quality is an
integral expression of a soil's chemical, physical, and biological attributes,
which determine how well the soil supports productive plant growth and
provides a variety of ecosystem services.
2. Broadly, both inherent and dynamic factors contribute to soil health. The
inherent factors are primarily the geology (parent material of the soil),
climate, organisms living on and in the soil, and topography, which do
not change significantly on a human time scale, and the age of a soil. On
the other hand, dynamic factors such as soil organic matter, pH, nutrient
availability, soil structure, and water supply can change much more
quickly and be manipulated by human intervention.
3. Because of the complex interaction of inherent and dynamic factors
over time, the distribution of soils in the landscape is highly variable. In
Europe, most notably France, the varying environmental endowments
of a site, in combination with human influences acting through the
selection of grape varieties and viticultural practices, are said to constitute
the site's
terroir
or “sense of place,” conferring a distinctive character on
the wine produced.
4. As parent material weathers in a variable environment, soil profiles
develop with distinctive visual and behavioral characteristics that give rise
to a range of soil types. A comparison of profiles of vineyard soils formed
on different rock types such as schist, limestone, sandstone, granite,
basalt, and transported materials derived from these rocks illustrates this
variability.
