Serbia is a country with long standing tradition of viticulture and wine production, dating back to antiquity. During these centuries of viticulture, certain areas gained prominence as favourable for wine-growing, while certain regions and localities became renowned for the quality and characteristics of wines which were the result of a specific terroir. Based on the study of certain ecological and anthropogenic factors regarding viticulture in Serbia, the project Capacity Building and Technical Support for the Renewal of Viticulture Zoning and for the System of Designation for Wine with Geographical Indications (SR/08/IB/AG/02) distinguished between 3 larger wine-growing areas, 22 wine-growing regions and 77 wine-growing sub-regions. This large number of different wine-growing regions and sub-regions indicates a wealth of differences regarding climate, soil, topographical and other factors within a relatively small territory. Since climate, soil and other factors were studied as part of the aforementioned project, this paper focused on other factors which function in conjunction with the previously studied terroir factors. Research for this paper was conducted on a sample of 18,090 selected vineyards (vineyard parcels) to determine elevation, exposure, slope, vine varieties, age of vineyards, training systems, rootstocks, and other factors which comprise the characteristics of vineyards in Serbian wine-growing areas. In addition to field activities for determination of viticulture data, analysis of certain topographic data was performed by utilising contemporary advanced GIS methods, with the following GIS software packages: Global Mapper 13, QGis v2.18, and Google Earth, and the geostatistical processing of some data was performed utilising the ArcGIS software, i.e. its Spatial Analyst and Geostatistical Analyst extensions. Spatial analysis and modelling, i.e. spatial information regarding elevation, slope, and exposure of vineyards relied on the digital elevation model (DEM). Elevation of the locality is one of the basic criteria for wine-growing, because increased elevation causes active temperatures to drop, but simultaneously increases exposure to sunlight. Due to the significance of elevation it was determined for every individual vineyard parcel, and the resulting data shows that the majority of vineyards and their areas in Serbia are located within the following ranges of elevation: >0-100 m, >100-200 m, and >200-300 m. Positive slope of the terrain results in increased exposure to photosynthetic and heat radiation, earlier reaching of necessary soil temperature, decreased impact of frost and improved soil drainage. Application of aforementioned techniques and analyses determined that the majority of vineyards and their areas in Serbia are located in terrains with the following slopes: >0-5° and >5-10°. Exposure of studied vineyards differed with respect to the number of vineyards dominated by southern and south-eastern exposure, followed by south-eastern and eastern exposure, in relation to areas of studies vineyards in which the majority of areas had south-western exposure, followed by other, so called warmed exposures. In addition to topographic factors, this paper focused on certain anthropological factors as well. Our findings were that the leading vine varieties are Riesling Italico (Gra?ac), Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Riesling, followed by other varieties; dominant vine training systems are the simple and double Guyot-training systems, and, with respect to the age of vineyards, mainly younger vineyards are dominant, majority being planted in 2008, 2009, 2010, 1980 and 2011. Data analysed in this paper confirms some of the earlier findings, but also indicates surprizes concerning some of the up-until-now undisputed positions regarding the characteristics of Serbian wine-growing areas and vineyards. All of the aforementioned will contribute to a better understanding of terroir and the connection between environmental and anthropogenic factors in wine-growing areas, and the quality and characteristics of wines.
Characteristics of vineyards in wine-growing areas in Serbia
Pierfederico La Notte
2018
Abstract
Serbia is a country with long standing tradition of viticulture and wine production, dating back to antiquity. During these centuries of viticulture, certain areas gained prominence as favourable for wine-growing, while certain regions and localities became renowned for the quality and characteristics of wines which were the result of a specific terroir. Based on the study of certain ecological and anthropogenic factors regarding viticulture in Serbia, the project Capacity Building and Technical Support for the Renewal of Viticulture Zoning and for the System of Designation for Wine with Geographical Indications (SR/08/IB/AG/02) distinguished between 3 larger wine-growing areas, 22 wine-growing regions and 77 wine-growing sub-regions. This large number of different wine-growing regions and sub-regions indicates a wealth of differences regarding climate, soil, topographical and other factors within a relatively small territory. Since climate, soil and other factors were studied as part of the aforementioned project, this paper focused on other factors which function in conjunction with the previously studied terroir factors. Research for this paper was conducted on a sample of 18,090 selected vineyards (vineyard parcels) to determine elevation, exposure, slope, vine varieties, age of vineyards, training systems, rootstocks, and other factors which comprise the characteristics of vineyards in Serbian wine-growing areas. In addition to field activities for determination of viticulture data, analysis of certain topographic data was performed by utilising contemporary advanced GIS methods, with the following GIS software packages: Global Mapper 13, QGis v2.18, and Google Earth, and the geostatistical processing of some data was performed utilising the ArcGIS software, i.e. its Spatial Analyst and Geostatistical Analyst extensions. Spatial analysis and modelling, i.e. spatial information regarding elevation, slope, and exposure of vineyards relied on the digital elevation model (DEM). Elevation of the locality is one of the basic criteria for wine-growing, because increased elevation causes active temperatures to drop, but simultaneously increases exposure to sunlight. Due to the significance of elevation it was determined for every individual vineyard parcel, and the resulting data shows that the majority of vineyards and their areas in Serbia are located within the following ranges of elevation: >0-100 m, >100-200 m, and >200-300 m. Positive slope of the terrain results in increased exposure to photosynthetic and heat radiation, earlier reaching of necessary soil temperature, decreased impact of frost and improved soil drainage. Application of aforementioned techniques and analyses determined that the majority of vineyards and their areas in Serbia are located in terrains with the following slopes: >0-5° and >5-10°. Exposure of studied vineyards differed with respect to the number of vineyards dominated by southern and south-eastern exposure, followed by south-eastern and eastern exposure, in relation to areas of studies vineyards in which the majority of areas had south-western exposure, followed by other, so called warmed exposures. In addition to topographic factors, this paper focused on certain anthropological factors as well. Our findings were that the leading vine varieties are Riesling Italico (Gra?ac), Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Riesling, followed by other varieties; dominant vine training systems are the simple and double Guyot-training systems, and, with respect to the age of vineyards, mainly younger vineyards are dominant, majority being planted in 2008, 2009, 2010, 1980 and 2011. Data analysed in this paper confirms some of the earlier findings, but also indicates surprizes concerning some of the up-until-now undisputed positions regarding the characteristics of Serbian wine-growing areas and vineyards. All of the aforementioned will contribute to a better understanding of terroir and the connection between environmental and anthropogenic factors in wine-growing areas, and the quality and characteristics of wines.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
