Relationships between wine quality and meteorological
information. Correlations between wine quality and air
temperature and precipitation data were calculated over
the wine production area. The correlations were calculated
on a monthly to a multimonthly basis, also accordingly
with several bioclimatic indices used in evaluation of the
potential suitability of a region for viticulture (Winkler et
al. 1974, Huglin 1986, Fregoni et al. 2003). Correlation
maps between wine quality and 500 hPa geopotential
height or SST were used to verify the possible impact of
large-scale phenomena on wine quality of the studied area
(Nemani et al. 2001). The maps were created using the interactive
plotting and analysis link from the website
www.cdc.noaa.gov, which allowed the uploading of winequality
data and the calculation of their correlation
(teleconnection) with meteorological variables measured in
each pixel of the European-North African area. Teleconnection
is generally defined as “the phenomenon in which
atmospheric interaction between widely separated regions
(in space and time) can be identified through statistical
correlations” (Hurrel 1996). In our study, such an approach
could be justified by the potential impact of SST and 500
hPa geopotential height values, occurring in specific areas,
on meteorological conditions over the wine production
area during the following months of the growing season.
Subsequently, in order to quantify the existing
teleconnection inside the studied areas and define the regression
functions during the highest correlation periods,
meteorological variable data were extracted from the database
(www.cdc.noaa.gov) and correlated with the wine
quality series. Finally, the presence of teleconnections
between wine quality and monthly large-scale meteorological
circulation was also investigated by means of the NAO
and SOI indices.