Abstract:
The paper presents the
baseline climate of the Cotnari wine
growing region, the climate under whose
influence were set up the wine grape
varieties, wine types and grapevine training
systems of this vineyard. It is also presented
the baseline climate suitability for wine
grape growing and its spatial variation in the
vineyard area. The study is based on the
climate data for the 1961 to 1980 time
period, previous to the beginning of the
climate warming and, therefore, considered
to be representative for the baseline climate
time period. According to study results, the
baseline climate of the Cotnari wine
growing region was cool, with annual
average temperatures by 8.5…10.0°C, with
a sum of the effective temperatures by
1081…1382°C, with freezing phenomena at
the beginning and towards the end of the
growing season, and with very cool nights
during the month of September (CI+2).
Elements that generate the baseline climate
suitability for wine grape growing were:
high average temperatures for the month of
July (19…21.1°C); long growing season up
to 190 days, and high values for the global
radiation, up to 93 kcal/cm2/April 1st -
September 30th on the sunny slopes within
the vineyard area. According to the
multicriteria evaluation of the suitability for
wine grape growing, 87.9% (1792 ha) of the
vineyard surface was characterized by a
baseline climate suitable for white quality
wines and 11.9% (241.0 ha) by a baseline
climate suitable for white table wines,
sparkling wines and wines for distillates.
