Climate change, new regulations for preservation of the environment and demands of the markets for speci fi c products, make it increasingly necessary to optimize the choice of cropping practices. The winegrowers take into account the combined in fl uences of environmental factors, plant material and practices, to improve grapes and wine. However, this combined in fl uence has been little studied. A general formalization of these multiple in fl uences at the scale of viticultural terroirs is necessary to better characterize the growth of the vine and its impact on the yearly characteristics of grape and wine. In this article, following a global system approach we review current knowledge about the relationships between environmental factors, plant material, agricultural practices, the growth of the vine and the characteristics of grapes and wine. We propose a conceptual model formalizing the relationships between the systemic variables. The system can be represented as the new concept of ‘the vine functioning pathway’, which we de fi ne as the logical and ordered combination of the effects of environmental factors, plant material and agricultural practices on the levels of vigor and earliness of the vine and the fi nal characteristics of the product. The resulting product of the system model is the grape and then the wine. This conceptual model is less accurate than a functional mathematical model but is the fi rst which takes into account the whole complexity of the vine system. The conceptual model built and implemented by a computer can be used as a support tool for decisions aiding in the optimization of cropping practices based on environmental factors and speci fi c products goals.