Effect of soil type on wines produced from Vitis vinifera L. cv. Grenache in commercial vineyards

In recent years, the wine industry has become increasingly interested in the influence of the terroir characteristics on the features of a wine and, in particular, the mechanisms by which a soil influences wine quality. Among published papers on this topic, most merely describe the effect of the soil; few explain it. In this study were conducted a sensory evaluation and phenolic composition and stilbene concentration tests in order to analyze the effects of soil on wine. Significant differences were found in the results of the tests conducted on two vineyards during two consecutive harvests in 2004 and 2005. The results, in line with previous reports, show that the more fertile of the two vineyards, which was also the one with the greatest water-holding capacity, produced wines that presented significantly lower color intensity and shade, as well as lower total phenolic composition and a smaller quantity of hydroxycinnamic compounds. In 2004, these wines presented significantly higher trans-resveratrol content, due to a fungal attack that was favored by the vineyard's soil characteristics. Extreme drought conditions in 2005 had a marked impact on the characteristics of the wines, increasing wavelength measurements significantly and reducing stilbene concentrations. Finally, sensory evaluations revealed significant differences between the wines produced on the two vineyards in both years for five of the seven attributes evaluated. No significant differences were found from one year to the next between the wines produced from the same vineyard, indicating that the attributes of these wines were maintained despite markedly different vintage conditions.