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Impact of berry size at harvest on red wine composition: a winemaker's approach
Author(s) -
Gil Cortiella Mariona,
Úbeda Cristina,
BarrioGalán Rubén,
PeñaNeira Alvaro
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.10095
Subject(s) - berry , winemaking , wine , viticulture , food science , chemistry , cultivar , composition (language) , terpene , horticulture , botany , biology , organic chemistry , linguistics , philosophy
BACKGROUND A classical postulate of viticulture declares that small grape berries produce the best red wines. The popularity of this postulate among winemakers leads them to consider berry size at harvest as a tool to measure the grape's potential to obtain great red wines. To address this issue, two vineyards from the same cultivar and subjected to the same physiological conditions during growing were selected for their difference in average grape berry size at harvest. Grapes from both origins were characterized and used for red winemaking by the same way. Release of volatile compounds and phenolic compounds during the alcoholic fermentation was monitored, and the finished wines were chemically characterized. RESULTS Larger grapes have a lower theoretical surface‐to‐volume ratio but have thicker skins and a greater proportion of skins (m/m). Wines made from grapes with a greater proportion of skins contain higher amounts of phenolic compounds, terpenes, volatile acids, acetate esters and polysaccharides. CONCLUSION According to the results, it seems that grape skin extraction is more related to skin proportion than to berry size. Thus not always smaller grapes produce darker red wines. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry