Overview of Sauvignon Blanc varietal Jean-Michel BOURSIQUOT 2018 - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Overview of Sauvignon Blanc varietal Jean-Michel BOURSIQUOT 2018 Sauvignon Blanc International Symposium May 4, 2018 – Lake County, California

Names • Sauvignon vs. Sauvignon Blanc • Variations without « persistence » (Mas et Pulliat, 1878) : – Gros Sauvignon, Sauvignon vert – Petit Sauvignon, Sauvignon jaune • Color variations – Sauvignon gris, Sauvignon rose – Sauvignon rouge, Sauvignon violet

Names • Synonyms – Blanc Fumé, Fumé blanc, Fumé (Nièvre) – Feigentraube (Germany) – Fié, Fier (Val de Loire) – Génetin, Jennetin (Loiret, Loir-et-Cher) – Puinéchou, Punéchon (Gers) – Savagnou (Gers) – Sucrin, Surin (Val de Loire, Auvergne)

Names • Homonyms or confusions – Muscat (Orléans) = Sauvignon – Muscat Sylvaner, Muskat Silvaner (Central Europe) = Sauvignon – Savagnin musqué = Sauvignon – Sauvignon à gros grains (Corrèze) = Muscadelle – Sauvignon vert (USA) = Muscadelle – Sauvignon vert (Chile) = Sauvignonasse (Friulano) – Sauvignon noir = Pardotte or Cabernet-Sauvignon

Names • Homonyms or confusions – Blanc doux, Douce blanche (Dordogne) = Muscadelle – Maurillon blanc = Pinot blanc or Chardonnay – Rouchelin (South West) = Chenin or Sauvignon – Savagnin jaune = Savagnin – Servonier, Servanien, Servinien, Servoyen (Bourgogne) = Savagnin

Names • Etymology – Sauvignon (the same as Savagnin) from Latin salvaticus , silvaticus, deriving from silva (the forest) : wild, natural, not domesticated, with a difficult character – Fié, Fier (proud) from Latin ferus : untamed, uncontrolled, wild – Fumé : smoked, tinted, probably due to the bloom on the berry skin

First quotes and historical data Ø 1534, François Rabelais - Gargantua (Livre I, Chapitre XXV)

First quotes and historical data Ø 1690, Jean Merlet – L’abrégé des bons fruits

First quotes and historical data Ø 1736, Abbé Jules Bellet – Voyage littéraire, manuscript

First quotes and historical data Ø 1783, Dupré de Saint-Maur - Inquiry, manuscripts

First quotes and historical data Ø 1785, De Secondat – Mémoires sur la culture des vignes de la Guienne

First quotes and historical data Ø 1800, Abbé François Rozier – Cours complet d’agriculture, tome X

First quotes and historical data Ø 1845, Comte Odart – Traité des cépages

First quotes and historical data Ø 1878, Mas et Pulliat – Le vignoble

First quotes and historical data Ø 1901, G. Cazeaux-Cazalet – Viala et Vermorel, Ampélographie

Genetic origin and kindship group

Geographical origin ?

Importance • Acreage in France (FranceAgriMer) 80 000 70 000 60 000 50 000 40 000 acres 30 000 20 000 10 000 0 1958 1968 1978 1988 1998 2008 2016

Importance • Distribution in French wine regions (FranceAgriMer, 2016) 24 000 20 000 acres 16 000 12 000 8 000 4 000 0 x y y e c t s e o u s e e e n c e l l d a t n g l l W n e a a e e o d V e V u v g r g r h o r e a e o t u r n h n r B u P o a i C ô o o B L h S L - R e r t n e C

Importance • In the world (OIV 2015, adapted) 1 France 79 459 21 Greece 1 890 52 881 22 India 1 236 2 New Zealand 37 491 1 236 3 Chile 23 Lebanon 4 South Africa 22 889 24 Morocco 1 236 acres 5 USA 16 489 25 Mexico 1 236 15 066 759 6 Australia 26 Portugal 709 7 Romania 13 823 27 Slovakia 8 Spain 12 177 28 Canada 662 7 660 9 Ukraine 29 Serbia 645 10 Italy 7 490 633 30 Croatia 11 Argentina 5 817 31 Turkey 494 4 942 12 Moldavia 420 32 Switzerland 13 Austria 3 106 33 Uruguay 366 14 Slovenia 2 622 34 Macedonia 348 2 570 15 Bulgaria 272 35 Israel 2 471 16 China 247 36 Brazil 17 Hungary 2 424 37 Cyprus 121 2 362 18 Germany 7 38 UK 19 Czech Rep. 2 333 7 413 Other Countries 20 Russia 2 224

Importance • Total acreage in the world : 316 000 acres • Eleventh row of the cultivars – Between • Ugni blanc : 292 000 acres (twelfth row) and • Red Globe : 395 000 acres (tenth row) – For comparison • Chardonnay : 531 000 acres (sixth row) • The third white wine variety in the world

Description and ampelography • Shoot tip – High density of white prostrate hairs – Yellow young leaves with light bronze spots • Shoots – Green nodes and internodes

Description and ampelography • Leaves – Small to moderate size – Bumpy (bubbled) blade, twisted (curly) on the edges – Green veins and petioles – Medium and convex teeth

Description and ampelography • Clusters – Small or small to medium – Very dense – Short peduncles • Berries – Small – Ellipsoid – With bloom

Behavior and cultural traits • Phenology – Budbreak : medium to medium-late, 8 days after Chardonnay, GDD 5 = 322 [285 – 372] (García de Cortázar et al, 2009; Castany, 2013) – Maturity : 2 nd period, one week after Chardonnay • Semi erected to erected shoot attitude – Short to very short internodes – High density of foliage

Behavior and cultural traits • Very high vigor • Training systems : vigor management – First years after plantation : generous pruning – Control of the number of shoots / meter, disbudding – Clusters micro climate (leaf removal vs shade)

Behavior and cultural traits • Training systems : some examples and comparison – Pouilly-Fumé, Sancerre : mini 2 400 vines/acre (≈1.3m x 1m), cordon (7 spurs maxi) or Guyot (8+2)

Behavior and cultural traits • Training systems : some examples and comparison – Sauternes : mini 2 600 vines/acre (1.9m maxi x 0.8m mini), “fan-shaped” Gobelet with 2 to 5 arms (6 spurs maxi) or Guyot (6+2) or “Bordelaise” (4+4) – Bordeaux blanc : mini 1 600 vines/acre (2.5m maxi x 0.85m mini), 14 shoots maxi/vine

Behavior and cultural traits • Training systems : some examples and comparison – Languedoc :

Behavior and cultural traits • Nutrients and hydric requirements - Nitrogen : needs well balanced supply (attention to weed control) - Water : to avoid stress as well as excess • Soil adaptation – Intermediate fertility – Limestone soils : soft lime, marls, stony soils, clayey and lime soils – Flint clay – Gravel and acid soils – Sandy and light texture soils

Behavior and cultural traits • Rootstocks – Traditional advice in order to control the vigor • Riparia Gloire de Montpellier, 101-14 MGt, 3309 C • 420 A, (161-49 C), 41 B vs Fercal

Behavior and cultural traits - Plants production statistics (FranceAgriMer, 2016) • 12.2 million of grafted plants in nurseries • 8 th variety grafted, 3 rd white variety SO4 3 363 000 SO4 3309 C 2 861 000 3309 C Fercal 2 028 000 Fercal Gravesac 1 061 000 Gravesac 41 B 747 000 41B MGt 101-14 727 000 101-14 MGt 110 R 359 000 110 R 1103 P 254 000 1103 Pa Riparia 216 000 Riparia RSB 1 163 000 RSB 1 140 Ru 126 000 140 Ru Others 318 000 Others

Behavior and cultural traits • Pests and diseases sensitivity – Very susceptible to bunch rot and to wood diseases (esca, eutypa dieback) – Sensitive to powdery mildew but not to downy mildew • General comments – Technical demanding cultivar – Neither too much nor too not much – Vigor control is a main key point

Technological potential • Type of wines – Sweet wines • Blends with Semillon and Muscadelle – Dry wines • Varietal wines • Blends with other white cultivars : Colombard, Gros Manseng, Ugni blanc, Chardonnay, Viognier, Parellada, … • In the past blended in some red wines (Comte Odart, 1845; D’Armailhacq, 1855; Mas et Pulliat, 1878)

Technological potential • Aromas – Blackcurrant bud – Boxwood – Broom – Aspergillus – Cat pee – Grassy – Green pepper – Figs – Citrus fruits – …. – Passion fruits – Strawberry – Flint (“rifle stone”, “mineral”)

Technological potential • Influence of vineyard management on aromas – Methoxypyrazines : decrease with ripening, leaf removal (Suklje et al, 2013) and high temperature M.J. Lacey et al, 1991

Technological potential – Thiols molecules • Moderate water stress : increase of thiols precursors (4-mercapto-4-methylpentan-2-one and 3- mercaptohexan-1-ol) 25000 20000 15000 ng/L Deep soil Covered soil 10000 5000 0 P-4MMP P-4MMPOH P-3MH X. Choné, 2001

Technological potential – Thiols molecules • Nitrogen supply 16000 X. Choné, 2001 12000 ng/L 8000 Low N soil 4000 Low N soil + 60 U 0 P-4MMP P-4MMPOH P-3MH

Technological potential – Thiols molecules • Vineyard treatments with nitrogen and sulfur : increase by 3 to 5 times the content of thiols (T. Dufourcq, 2011) – 2 treatments : first, beginning of veraison and second, 8 to 10 days after – 2 to 4 kg/acre of N and 1 to 2.5 kg/acre of S per treatment (80 to 160 L/acre) • Warning, thiols are susceptible to copper (attention with organic viticulture)

Color variations • Sauvignon gris (gray) : 2 690 acres in France

Color variations • Sauvignon rouge (red)