ABSTRACT: In Southeast Brazil, the change of grape harvest from wet summer to dry winter through double-pruning management has improved the quality of wines, currently denominated winter wines. In order to better understand the influences of soil, macroclimate, and vineyard management in winter wines, we investigated seven vineyards in the states of Minas Gerais (Três Corações – TC, Três Pontas – TP, Cordislândia – COR, São Sebastião do Paraíso – SSP and Andradas – AND) and São Paulo (Itobi – ITO and Espirito Santo do Pinhal – PIN) during three consecutive growing seasons. The vineyards are located in warm temperate zones and grouped in four soil types: Acrudox in TC, AND and SSP, Hapludox in TP; Hapludult in AND and PIN; Eutrudept in ITO. The high clay content (> 35 %) observed in all soil types, associated to low evapotranspiration demand, avoided the occurrence of severe water stress, as observed by the high values of leaf and stem water potential, stomatal conductance, photosynthesis, and transpiration. Differences in vigor were more related to vineyard management and did not affect grape composition. Among vineyards, parameters for berry quality from ITO, such as sugar and acidity, were more associated to high soil sand content and winter temperature. No significant differences were found in anthocyanins and total phenols of berries among vineyards, suggesting that the high thermal range and low precipitation during autumn-winter, historically observed in all municipalities, seemed to be the main factor for improvement of phenolic compounds.

Abstract Sunlight and heating influence leaf and grape metabolism and therefore wine quality. As a recent management tool, no information exists on the effects of grapevine row orientation on the wine composition of Syrah vines within the context of double pruning management, a technique used to transfer the grape harvest from the wet summer to the dry winter season. This is a first attempt to investigate the wine composition from north-south- (NS) and east-west- (EW) oriented Syrah winter vines. EW wine samples had higher total acidity, residual sugars, alcohol and color hue, whereas NS wines exhibited higher content of color intensity, anthocyanins, total phenolics, total phenolic index, ashes and pH. The identification of volatile compounds was tentatively performed and demonstrated the presence of alkanes, volatile phenols and alkyl sulfide in NS wines, while butyrolactone and beta-damascenone were found mainly in EW wines. Row orientation contributed to wine composition and could be used as a management tool for obtaining individual wine styles.

ABSTRACT Chardonnay cultivar has shown great potential of planting and development in sites above 900m of Brazilian southeast for sparkling wines production. The quality of this product is related to vineyard climate and management, since both affect the vine development and grape composition. In this study, three defoliation orientations (east, west and east/west face), at veraison, and a group without defoliation, were compared in order to observe the impacts of this management on the productivity, grape and base wine quality. Yield, grape components, must and base wine composition were analyzed for two years. East/west defoliation increased alcohol content and decreased acidity in base wines, while the group without defoliation increased acidity, according to the higher and lower sun exposure, respectively. Defoliation at veraison increased the incidence of bunch rots. Differences in the aromatic composition of the base wines between the harvests were identified. The east/west defoliation treatment presented more intense fruity, citrus and tropical aromas. For regions characterized by subtropical highland climate (Cwb) in the Brazilian Southeast, late defoliation is not recommended since defoliated plants were more susceptible to fungus infection at flowering and berry formation.

ABSTRACT: The quality of sparkling wine reflects the climate and management of vineyard, since these factors affect grape development, berry composition, and base wine composition. ‘Chardonnay’ vines were subjected to five in-row spacing distances (0.5; 0.75; 1.0; 1.50; and 2.0 m) combined with and without shoot thinning. For each in-row spacing, vines were thinned to 5, 8, 10, 15, and 20 shoots per plant. Vegetative growth, yield, berry composition and base wine composition were analyzed for two years. Vines with decreased in-row spacing, presented fewer clusters and malic acid content in berries, mostly related to the shading effect. Shoot thinning increased bud fruitfulness and decreased leaf area per meter, leaf area per plant, and leaf layer number. In-row spacing from 1.5 m to 0.5 m showed promising results for the Southeast Brazil with higher yield per hectare and sufficient acidity to provide freshness in sparkling wines.

ABSTRACT The sunlight and heating effects on leaves and grapes are directly influenced by row orientation in vineyards. Row orientation studies have not been addressed under double pruning management, a technique used to transfer the wine grape harvest from wet summer to dry winter season in Brazilian Southeast. Effects of grapevine row orientation (north/south - NS and east/west - EW) of vertically trellised and shoot positioned Vitis vinifera L. Syrah grafted onto 1103 Paulsen were investigated in the South of Minas Gerais State. The vegetative vigor was increased in NS oriented vines, probably due to high photosynthesis as suggested by the highest leaf starch accumulation. The leaf and stem water potential were slight affected by row orientation. NS orientation increased the cluster weight, but cluster number and yield per vine were not affected by treatments. Berries from NS oriented vines also showed the highest values of anthocyanins and total phenols. Under NS orientation there was a reduction on tartaric acid and soluble sugar in berries probably diluted by increased cluster weight. This study showed that vineyard under NS orientation improved grapevine vigor and promoted better phenolic maturity in wine grapes harvested during the winter season than EW orientation.