EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT LEVELS OF WATER APPLICATION IN PRE- AND POST-VERAISON ON MUST COMPOSITION AND WINE COLOR (CV. CABERNET SAUVIGNON)

An experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of three levels of water application during pre- and post-veraison on must composition and wine color of a vineyard, located in the Pencahue valley, VII region of Chile (35º 22′ S; 71º 47′ W), during the 2000-01 growing season.
The cultivar was a 7 year-old Cabernet Sauvignon irrigated with a drip irrigation system and trained in a vertical shoot positional system.
Irrigation treatments were the application of 40%, 70% and 100% of the vineyard evapotranspiration (ET) during both pre- and post-veraison.
The results showed that the water stress reduced the total yield and berry size, especially in vines under pre-veraison water deficit.
For must composition, pre-veraison water stress determined an enhancement of solid solids (SS), but post-veraison water stress (40 % ET) had an adverse affect on it.
Also, regression analyses indicated that total polyphenols and anthocyanins in the must increased as berry size decreased.
In wines, the pre-veraison water stress led to a significant increase in the total polyphenol index and color density.

IV International Symposium on Irrigation of Horticultural Crops

C. Acevedo, S. Ortega-Farías, Y. Moreno, F. Córdova

irrigation deficit, berry diameter, total phenols, total anthocyanins, Vitis vinifera L.

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2004.664.61