Terroir and intensification in the Spanish wine-growing territories

Abstract

Since the definition of terroir is relatively open, and it lends itself to various interpretations, it is necessary to analyse its consistency and operability facing the major changes in the wine sector. One of the most important in Spain is the radical transformation of the wine model, due to the process of intensification of its production in the last two decades. This communication analyses the evolution at regional level and examines its relationship with the expansion of irrigation and the modernizing and restructuring activities of the vineyard. The results show a very strong increase in yields, especially in some of the largest producing regions, as Ciudad Real, and that the most associated factor with intensification is irrigation, produced in the new espalier vineyards and in the traditional bush-trained ones. One of the consequences is the consolidation of different productive models in the different regions. In this context, if it is interpreted that the “terroir wine“ is obtained by minimizing those types of human intervention that substantially alter the natural factors throughout the productive process, due to the intensity of the changes and their results, it is necessary to consider the desirability of revising the concept to make it operational.