Geographical features such as slope and exposure are terroir elements influencing grape quality.

The hilly landscape is characterized by high geospatial heterogeneity. In this context elevation, slope, aspect and geographic coordinates are able to affect climate at meso scale level.. Based on this assumption, we hypothesized that vineyards geographical features may also influence grape quality. In order to verify this hypothesis the Barolo wine production area (North-West Italy) has been selected because its vineyards are homogeneous from pedological point of view and for the agronomic techniques adopted, but different for site features. The 17 chosen vineyards have been classified into 3 geomorphological/mesoclimatic units after detecting their geographical traits such as elevation, exposure, and slope and calculating incident solar radiation. Bioclimatic indexes were calculated using data from meteorological stations located within each unit. The grape ripening was monitored in two subsequent seasons (2012-2013). Relations between these parameters were studied using multivariate statistics. An interaction of the site and meteorological characteristics on plant vigour, grape yield and quality emerged. The south-east facing vineyards were more vigorous, had higher productivity and lower berry sugar and anthocyanins concentrations than those of south- or west-facing vineyards. The accumulation of anthocyanins was particularly sensitive to season, vineyard exposure and incident solar radiation: in both years their concentration achieved higher amount in west exposure and lower in those east-facing.