Vineyard site impact on the elemental composition of Pinot noir wines

Elemental composition was used to characterize and differentiate 14 wines made from the identical clone of Vitis vinifera cv. Pinot noir (clone 667). The vineyards span distances which range from several hundred meters to 1540 km and their elevations vary from near sea level to nearly 500 m. Twenty-seven elements were observed above the limit of quantitation by using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in the wines from at least half of the 14 sites. Concentrations of several elements, including Mo, Er, Na, Li, Cs and Pb, varied by 10-fold across the 14 wines. Multiple factor analysis (MFA) of elemental composition with juice chemistry and site characterization show associations consistent with expectations, such as high Ca with high clay content. These results demonstrate that even when grapevine clone and winemaking protocol are controlled, composition differences in wines produced from sites are mediated by diverse soil and microclimate conditions.