Terroir Suitability Zoning for the Six Prevailing Wine Grape Varieties in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (with a Focus on the Helan Mountain East) of China

Abstract

Terroir plays an important role in wine grape production and good wine making. Among all the aspects of terroir in a given region, climate, soil and variety are the most important ones. The goal of this study was to evaluate these three aspects of terroir in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of China, with a focus on the Helan Mountain East. Based on historical weather data during the period 1981 to 2016 from 22 meteorological stations in the research area, the climatic indices were derived, with which the growable zone for wine grape cultivation in the research area was identified. By synthesizing the climatic indices and soil type data, stepwise and optimization methods were used to divide the growable zone into optimal, suitable, near-suitable and unsuitable zones for the six prevailing wine grape varieties. In the analysis, the six prevailing wine grape varieties include two white wine grape varieties of "Chardonnay" and "Riesling" and four red wine grape varieties of "Cabernet Sauvignon", "Merlot", "Pinot Noir" and "Grenache Noir". With the Geographic Information System (ArcGIS) software, the geographical distributions of these terroir suitability zonings were mapped in the research area according to a small grid simulation model. The results showed that the growable zone for wine grapes was mainly focused in most of the northern and central parts of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. This particular zone was suitable for the typical red wine varieties like late-maturing "Grenache Noir", medium-to-late maturing "Cabernet Sauvignon", medium-maturing "Merlot" and early-maturing "Pinot Noir". In particular, the optimal zone for these four red wine varieties was centered in Xixia county of Yinchuan city, Pigeon Hill of Qingtongxia city and Baima Township of Zhongning County. For the two early-to-medium maturing white wine varieties of "Riesling" and "Chardonnay", the optimal and suitable zones were in the cool area of the central arid zone and the Qingshui River tributary.

Multi‐criteria decision analysis integrated with GIS to determine land suitability for cultivation and best harvest time of vine

“…Specifically, the experimental means is applied to the rows of the matrix. Then the distance to the mean matrix is calculated using Eqn (9).…”

“…According to Hood et al 7 . thermal indicators are the most important factors among climatic elements 8‐10 …”

“…According to Hood et al 7 thermal indicators are the most important factors among climatic elements. [8][9][10] The different climatic conditions in different regions of the world make it difficult to determine ideal places for vine cultivation with the highest yield. The geographic information system (GIS) has been used by many researchers to determine suitable locations for growing plants.…”

“…Jones 16 concluded that the climate conditions have an effective role on maximum yield of vines (MYV) (in sites with suitable climate conditions, MYV could be obtained). Li et al 9 used GIS to investigate suitable places for growing vines in Ningxia Hu in China for two types of white vine cultivars and four types of red vine cultivars and showed that climate conditions and soil type significantly affect the choice of suitable sites for the cultivation of the plants. Wanyama et al 17 concluded that among the climatic, topographic, and land-use parameters, only climaterelated factors could determine suitable sites for growing vines in Michigan.…”

Analyses of Vineyard Microclimate in the Eastern Foothills of the Helan Mountains in Ningxia Region, China

“…Among all the main wine grape-growing regions (30 • -45 • N) in China, the Eastern Foothills of the Helan Mountains (37.72 • -39.38 • N and 105.75 • -106.78 • E, situated in Northwest China) has the most suitable hydrothermal conditions for wine grape. As of 2018, the regional planting area for wine grape has reached 380 km 2 ; as of 2020, it has become a new high-quality wine grape region in China [1,2]. However, climate change has been negatively affecting the ripening of wine grape.…”