Geology, geomorphology and wine-growing landscape: An approach to regional identity for viticulture at Campanha Wine Region, Brazil

Abstract

Wine "terroir" can be characterized by natural factors linked to wine culture, which could determine the typicality of a wine from a particular location. As world examples may be mentioned regions of Burgundy, Canary Islands, Azores, Douro Valley, South Africa, California, among others, which link terroir with rocks and its landscape. The influence on the quality and production of wines has been studied in the works on wine terroir. The soils can be shallow and close to the rock source (bedrock) or not, factor that implies in the proximity to the roots of the plant. In any case, geology is an important component in the context of wine, either by the contribution of soil components or by the generation of reliefs. In the Rio Grande do Sul State (Brazil), the vineyards are located predominantly in the "Serra Gaúcha", "Campanha" and "Serra do Sudeste" wine regions. However, there are vineyards cultivated on relief units such as plateaus ("Serra Geral" and "Escudo Sul-Rio-Grandense"), depressions ("Depressão do rio Jacui" and "Depressão do rio Ibicuí") and plains ("Planície Costeira"). In these contexts, the vineyards occur over a great diversity of topology, soil and rock. The objective of this study was to characterize vineyards in the Campanha wine region, from aspects of relief, lithology and landscape. In this region, vineyards were observed on igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, containing geological monuments and geodiversity that confer a unique wine landscape, which could add value to the typical terroirs.