Abstract
Presently, there is no information available about the effect of bunch compactness and berry thinning methods on wine grape quality and sensory attributes of wine in the ‘Monastrell’ cultivar. Thus, the main aim of the present study was to determine the influence of bunch compactness and two berry thinning methods, which consisted of the reduction of 25% and 50% of the number of berries in each bunch, on wine grape quality and organoleptic quality of wine in this cultivar. Non-compact bunches and both berry thinning methods showed a significant reduction in total yield, bunch compactness, and bunch fresh mass compared with compact and control ones, respectively. However, these methods, especially the 50% one, significantly increased the content of total soluble solids and total phenolics. Furthermore, both berry thinning methods promoted the increase in total anthocyanins concentration in berries, as well as the hydrophilic total antioxidant activity. Berry thinning methods led to wines with greater sensory descriptors, such as fruity (odor and flavor), sour, sweet, aftertaste, and color, and were preferred by consumers. Finally, 50% berry thinning is the most useful tool to decrease bunch compactness and improve the overall quality of berries and sensory attributes of wines.
Highlights
Introduction‘Monastrell’ grapevine cultivar is commonly used in other Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) in Eastern Spain (Valencia, Alicante, Bullas, Almansa, Yecla, Binissalem, and Pla i Llevant) and in Southern France (Provence), where it is known as ‘Mourvedre’, among other Spanish PDOs [3,4]
Bunch fresh mass (g) was significantly decreased by 55% in non-compact bunches, resulting in a lowering of 1.80-fold of bunch compactness compared with the compact bunch, the bunch length did not significantly decrease for those harvested in 2018 (Table 1)
Our results show that total anthocyanins content was significantly higher in berries from 25% and 50% berry thinning methods than the control (Figure 2), no significant differences were observed among the two percentages assayed
Summary
‘Monastrell’ grapevine cultivar is commonly used in other PDOs in Eastern Spain (Valencia, Alicante, Bullas, Almansa, Yecla, Binissalem, and Pla i Llevant) and in Southern France (Provence), where it is known as ‘Mourvedre’, among other Spanish PDOs [3,4]. This cultivar is grown mainly in semiarid areas of the southeast of Spain, covering 4.4% of the total vineyard area in the country [5] since it is well adapted to the soil and weather conditions of the area characterized by dry climates of high temperatures and drought cycles [6]. From the point of view of viticulture, this cultivar has an important oenological potential due to new agronomic practices and winemaking methods, leading to high-quality wines with an increase in their exports to other countries and their prices reached at market [6]
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