Integrated Analysis of Climate, Soil, Topography and Vegetative Growth in Iberian Viticultural Regions Helder Fraga 1 *, Aureliano C. Malheiro 1 , Jose ´ Moutinho-Pereira 1 , Rita M. Cardoso 2 , Pedro M. M. Soares 2,3 , Javier J. Cancela 4 , Joaquim G. Pinto 5,6 , Joa ˜o A. Santos 1 1 Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences, Universidade de Tra ´s-os-Montes e Alto Douro, UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal, 2 Instituto Dom Luiz, CGUL, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, 3 ADEC, Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, 4 GI-1716, Proyectos y Planificacio ´ n. Dpto. Ingenierı ´a Agroforestal, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Escuela Polite ´ cnica Superior, Lugo, Spain, 5 Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom, 6 Institute for Geophysics and Meteorology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany Abstract The Iberian viticultural regions are convened according to the Denomination of Origin (DO) and present different climates, soils, topography and management practices. All these elements influence the vegetative growth of different varieties throughout the peninsula, and are tied to grape quality and wine type. In the current study, an integrated analysis of climate, soil, topography and vegetative growth was performed for the Iberian DO regions, using state-of-the-art datasets. For climatic assessment, a categorized index, accounting for phenological/thermal development, water availability and grape ripening conditions was computed. Soil textural classes were established to distinguish soil types. Elevation and aspect (orientation) were also taken into account, as the leading topographic elements. A spectral vegetation index was used to assess grapevine vegetative growth and an integrated analysis of all variables was performed. The results showed that the integrated climate-soil-topography influence on vine performance is evident. Most Iberian vineyards are grown in temperate dry climates with loamy soils, presenting low vegetative growth. Vineyards in temperate humid conditions tend to show higher vegetative growth. Conversely, in cooler/warmer climates, lower vigour vineyards prevail and other factors, such as soil type and precipitation acquire more important roles in driving vigour. Vines in prevailing loamy soils are grown over a wide climatic diversity, suggesting that precipitation is the primary factor influencing vigour. The present assessment of terroir characteristics allows direct comparison among wine regions and may have great value to viticulturists, particularly under a changing climate. Citation: Fraga H, Malheiro AC, Moutinho-Pereira J, Cardoso RM, Soares PMM, et al. (2014) Integrated Analysis of Climate, Soil, Topography and Vegetative Growth in Iberian Viticultural Regions. PLoS ONE 9(9): e108078. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0108078 Editor: Ine ´s A ´ lvarez, University of Vigo, Spain Received March 24, 2014; Accepted August 25, 2014; Published September 24, 2014 Copyright: ß 2014 Fraga et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability: The authors confirm that all data underlying the findings are fully available without restriction. All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files. Funding: This study was supported by national (FCT – Fundac ¸a ˜o para a Cie ˆncia e a Tecnologia) and European Union Funds (FEDER/COMPETE - Operational Competitiveness Programme), under the projects PTDC/AGR-ALI/110877/2009, FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-022692, PEst-OE/AGR/UI4033/2014, by PRODER – Inovac ¸a ˜o (GreenVitis project IF0018), by ON2 ENOEXEL (NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000032), and by EUPORIAS - 7th Framework Programme for Research, Grant Agreement 308291. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * Email: hfraga@utad.pt Introduction The most renowned viticultural regions in the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain) have a long standing tradition in winemaking and are considered world-class grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) producing regions. Spain, which currently has the largest vineyard area in the world (over 1 6 10 6 ha), is the 3 rd wine producer worldwide, while Portugal ranks in the 11 th place, with interna- tionally acclaimed wines, such as the Port wine [1]. In these countries, viticultural regions are convened according to Denom- inations of Origin (DO), or Qualified Denomination of Origin (DOCa), which are imposed by governmental institutions and controlled by strict regulations. Although the spatial distribution and limits of each DO are subjected to different rules in Portugal and Spain, the significance of the DO is nearly the same. In particular, the law enforcements are similar to both Portugal and Spain, even if they still differ in certain aspects of national legislation. The Portuguese Douro/Porto DO (henceforth Douro DO) was the first viticultural region worldwide to implement these regulations in 1756 [2]. Such regulations aim at obtaining a superior wine quality, while establishing the specific wine characteristics of each region [3]. The concept of terroir, which includes specific soil, topography, climate, landscape characteris- tics and biodiversity features of each winemaking region [4], is entrenched within the classification of a DO. Each DO is expected to be a recognized trademark, whilst other vineyards/products not included in the DO are not allowed to bear this denomination. Being part of the terroir, soil is one of the most important factors for viticulture [2]. It supports the root system, which accumulates carbohydrates, absorbs water and other nutrients, being crucial for grapevine growth, physiology and yield attributes [5,6]. Soil structure and chemistry can influence grapevine composition and consequently wine quality [7]. Compact and shallow soils can obstruct root access to oxygen, water and nutrients, limiting root growth and development [8]. In grapevines, nutrient and water uptake occur mostly within 0.5–1.0 m soil profile [2,9]. Therefore, PLOS ONE | www.plosone.org 1 September 2014 | Volume 9 | Issue 9 | e108078