RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article T1 Impact of berry size at harvest on red wine composition: a winemaker's approach A1 Gil Cortiella, Mariona A1 Úbeda, Cristina A1 Barrio Galán, Rubén del A1 Peña‐Neira, Alvaro K1 berry size; wine phenolic composition; wine aroma; wine polysaccharides; Carménère cv. AB BACKGROUND: A classical postulate of viticulture declares that small grape berries produce the best red wines. The popularity of this postulate among winemakers leads them to consider berry size at harvest as a tool to measure the grape’s potential to obtain great red wines. To address this issue, two vineyards from the same cultivar and subjected to the same physiological conditions during growing were selected for their difference in average grape berry size at harvest. Grapes from both origins were characterized and used for red winemaking by the same way. Release of volatile compounds and phenolic compoundsduring the alcoholic fermentation was monitored, and the finished wines were chemically characterized.RESULTS: Larger grapes have a lower theoretical surface-to-volume ratio but have thicker skins and a greater proportion of skins (m/m). Wines made from grapes with a greater proportion of skins contain higher amounts of phenolic compounds, terpenes, volatile acids, acetate esters and polysaccharides.CONCLUSION: According to the results, it seems that grape skin extraction is more related to skin proportion than to berry size. Thus not always smaller grapes produce darker red wines. PB Society of Chemical Industry SN 0022-5142 YR 2019 FD 2019 LK https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/65719 UL https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/65719 LA eng NO Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture (2020); 100: 836–845 NO Producción Científica DS UVaDOC RD 22-nov-2024