Influence of berry size on red wine colour and composition

Abstract

Background and Aims According to one of the classical postulates of viticulture, cultivars with smaller berries produce the best red wines. During grape development, some differences at berry level lead to a wide range of fruit heterogeneity at harvest. One source of heterogeneity at harvest is berry size. The aim of this work is to determine if berry size affects the colour and chemical composition of wine. Methods and Results Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were harvested at optimal ripeness, and screened by two sieves, to select three groups of grapes of large, medium and small size. Wines were made from each size class in triplicate, with the control being wine made from unselected grapes. The colour properties and composition of the phenolic substances of the wines were determined. Conclusions Wine colour showed the clearest trend in this experiment: the smaller the berries, the deeper the wine colour, as measured by the CIELab coordinates as well as by (wine) colour intensity. Moreover, stilbene concentration increased when berry size decreased, while pH did the opposite. Finally, wines made from small berries had a titratable acidity, total phenolic index and monomeric flavan‐3‐ol concentration higher than that of wines made from the large‐ and medium‐sized berry sizes. Significance of the Study These data suggest that berry size classification in wineries would be an interesting tool for management of wine composition.

Impact of vine water status on berry mass and berry tissue development of Cabernet franc (Vitis vinifera L.), assessed at berry level

“…The relative proportion of berry tissue masses have also been investigated by Walker et al ., Barbagallo et al . and Gil et al . but without considering the effect of vine water status.…”

“…This topic has been addressed by Roby and Matthews 5 and Cooley et al 20 in Cabernet Sauvignon. The relative proportion of berry tissue masses have also been investigated by Walker et al, 6 Barbagallo et al 7 and Gil et al 2 but without considering the effect of vine water status. The approach of this study was unique in that it was conducted at the berry level.…”

“…Many growers and viticulturists consider berry size as a major quality factor in wine production, believing that red wines produced from smaller berries are higher in quality . However, this is primarily based on the geometric assumption that berry shape is considered as a sphere, and hence the berry skin‐to‐flesh ratio would increase as berry size decreases . Furthermore, since higher concentration of important compounds for the quality of wines, especially red wines, are localized in the skin, then their amount would be increasingly diluted with increasing berry size .…”

“…1 However, this is primarily based on the geometric assumption that berry shape is considered as a sphere, and hence the berry skin-to-flesh ratio would increase as berry size decreases. 2,3 Furthermore, since higher concentration of important compounds for the quality of wines, especially red wines, are localized in the skin, 4 then their amount would be increasingly diluted with increasing berry size. 3 Implicit in this belief is the assumption that the proportion of berry tissues remain constant while berry size changes.…”

Unravelling the effects of berry size on ‘Tempranillo’ grapes under different field practices

“…Therefore, grape growers and oenologists believe that the lower the berry size, the better its oenological attributes are. Recently, a study found that Cabernet Sauvignon wines made from small berries presented better oenological attributes (higher total soluble solids and phenolics concentrations) than others coming from large and medium-sized berries (Gil et al, 2015). This might have implications for winemaking, since berry size affected the volatile profiles of Merlot and Cabernet (Xie et al, 2018).…”