Impact of Shoot and Cluster Thinning on Yield, Fruit Composition, and Wine Quality of Corot noir

Abstract

The treatments had variable impacts on wine anthocyanin, berry skin tannin, berry seed tannin, and wine tannin depending on year. Wine tannin (42 to 64 mg/L) and tannin extractability (5 to 6%) were both very low compared to values typically observed in red wines produced from V. vinifera. Using a two-alternative forced choice test, panelists reported ST+CL wines were fruitier than the control and ST wines and that ST wines were less fruity than the control in both years. An economic analysis indicated that in order for growers/wineries to maintain their economic welfare, bottle prices would have to increase by $0.02 to $0.41 depending on the practice and year to compensate for additional labor costs and lost yield in implementing these crop-load management practices.

Effect of cluster and berry thinning on Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon wines composition

“…The yield was slightly reduced in 2011 as a result of the excessive vigour of the vines in 2010, resulting in poor floral bud initiation, similar to the report by Sun et al (2012). The excessive vigour was the consequence of excessive rainfall during the vegetation period.…”

“…The noteworthy yield reductions in both cultivars must be taken into account when applying similar treatments, because of significant economic implications for vineyard operators (King et al 2012). The reduced yield per vine achieved by cluster thinning has been previously reported (Reynolds et al 1995;Miller & Howell 1998;Keller et al 2005;Dami et al 2006;Di Profio et al 2011a;King et al 2012;Sun et al 2012), as well as concomitant increases in cluster weight (Reynolds et al 1995;Dami et al 2006;King et al 2012;Sun et al 2012).…”

“…Its practicality has often been questioned because of the increased production costs and lost yields. Sun et al (2012) on the ground of economic analysis claimed that the bottle prices would have to increase by $0.02 to $0.41 to compensate for the additional labour costs and lost yield. New analytical methods have been introduced that allow the growers to calculate their optimal yields and grape prices, and make specific, quantitatively justified cluster thinning decisions in the field (Preszler et al 2010).…”

Agronomic performance of 'Cabernet Sauvignon' with leaf removal management in a high-altitude region of Southern Brazil

“…These data are in agreement with those of Di Profio et al (2011), when studying the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc cultivars in the USA. These results can be explained by the fact that anthocyanin content is highly dependent on the levels of solar radiation, both in the vegetative canopy and directly in the clusters (Sun et al, 2012).…”

“…In previous studies, Moreno et al (2014) also observed that leaf removal resulted in greater accumulation of phenolic compounds, whereas Tardaguila et al (2010) and Risco et al (2014) found that early leaf removal caused an increase in polyphenol content. It has been suggested that the biosynthesis of polyphenols is light dependent, favoring their accumulation (Sun et al, 2012).…”