Abstract
Adopting cover crops for vineyard soil management can provide several benefits, including soil protection, reductions in vine vigor, and enhancements in berry composition. However, the effects of this practice on wine aroma have seldom been addressed. This study aimed to determine the influence of different cover crops and soil tillage on the must and wine amino acid composition and wine volatile compounds of the red cultivar, ‘Mencía’ (Vitis vinifera L.), grown in Northwest Spain. Treatments consisted of soil tillage (ST), native vegetation (NV), English ryegrass (ER), and subterranean clover (SC). Cover crops did not alter the macro-constituents of musts; however, musts from NV and SC tended to lower concentrations of amino acids. Some color attributes of wines were influenced by cover crops in the vineyard. Methanol and trans-linalool oxide (pyran) concentrations in wines were significantly affected by soil management. Professional tasters encountered differences in visual, aroma, and palate descriptors of wines depending on the treatment imposed in the vineyard. These alterations in sensory properties seemed to obey to slight modifications of wine chemical characteristics due to vineyard soil management. According to these results, cover crops might be useful for modulating wine aroma in humid climates.
Highlights
Aroma is one of the main attributes of wines and results from the complex balance of the concentrations of a high number of volatile compounds with distinct characteristics and intensities [1].These volatiles accumulate in grapes during ripening and they are affected by temperature and water availability that, among other factors, can be affected by vineyard management practices [1,2].Soil management in vineyards has multiple goals that encompass improving weed management, soil conservation, nutrient and water management, enhanced biodiversity for pest control, and reduce the availability of soil resources to control vine vigor [2,3,4]
Stem water potential at midday was more negative in native vegetation (NV), causing significant reductions in leaf stomatal conductance on certain dates, especially in 2013
This is a common response in field studies comparing grapevines growing with cover crops against a tilled soil in the inter-row [38]
Summary
Aroma is one of the main attributes of wines and results from the complex balance of the concentrations of a high number of volatile compounds with distinct characteristics and intensities [1].These volatiles accumulate in grapes during ripening and they are affected by temperature and water availability that, among other factors, can be affected by vineyard management practices [1,2].Soil management in vineyards has multiple goals that encompass improving weed management, soil conservation, nutrient and water management, enhanced biodiversity for pest control, and reduce the availability of soil resources to control vine vigor [2,3,4]. A great number of environmental and agronomic benefits can be expected from cover crops in these agroecosystems, including soil protection against erosion [10], improvements in soil properties [11], reductions in vine vigor [12], etc. Despite these advantages, vineyards are usually managed through tillage in the inter-row and herbicides in the vine row [13]
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