Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
2
Site Selection and Soil Preparation
Determining the Site
As outlined in chapter 1, “determining the site” in old established wine regions
such as Burgundy, Tuscany, and the Rheingau has been achieved through centu-
ries of acquired knowledge of the interaction between climate, soil, and grape vari-
ety. Commonly, vines were planted on the shallow soils of steep slopes, leaving the
more productive lower terraces and flood plains for the cultivation of cereal crops
and other food staples, as shown, for example, by the vineyards along the Rhine
River in Germany (figure 2.1). The small vineyard blocks of the Rhine River, the
Côte d'Or, Valais and Vaud regions of Switzerland allowed winegrowers to dif-
ferentiate sites on the basis of the most favorable combination of local climate
and soil, which underpinned the concept of
terroir
. In much of the New World,
by contrast, where agricultural land was abundant and population pressure less,
vineyards have been established on the better soils of the plains and river valleys,
as exemplified by such regions as the Central Valley of California, the Riverina in
New South Wales, Australia, and Marlborough in New Zealand. Apart from the
availability of land, the overriding factor governing site selection was climate and
the suitability of particular varieties to the prevailing regional climate. In such
regions, although soil variability undoubtedly occurred, plantings of a single vari-
ety were made on large areas and vineyard blocks managed as one unit (figure 2.2).
Soil type and soil variability were largely ignored.
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