Agronomical characterization of minority grapevine cultivars from Asturias (Spain)

Abstract

SUMMARYGrapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) was an important crop in the past in Asturias (Northwestern Spain), but the phylloxera and later the boom of the mining industry almost led to its extinction in the last century. Currently, the grape growers are rescuing the old cultivars present in the region from ancient times, but the long period of abandon has originated a lack of information about their characteristics. Four red ('Albarín Negro', 'Carrasquín', 'Verdejo Negro' and 'Mencía') and two white ('Albarín Blanco' and 'Godello') minority grapevine cultivars from Asturias (Spain) were studied for phenology, fertility, vigor, production and berry quality parameters for two consecutive years. Great differences between cultivars were found: 'Verdejo Negro' and 'Albarín Blanco' had an early budburst both years, 'Carrasquín' was the latest harvested, and 'Albarín Negro' presented the highest total fertility. 'Mencía' had the greatest bunch weight, and, together with 'Verdejo Negro', the lowest total acidity and highest pH. Shikimic acid was a varietal marker, its content being higher in 'Carrasquín', 'Verdejo Negro' and 'Albarín Blanco'. Significant differences between years in the measured parameters were also found. Agronomical evaluation is the first step to recover these minority cultivars from extinction and to provide to grape growers a deeper knowledge about the characteristics of each cultivar, allowing enriching and diversifying the wine market with different products. RESUMOA videira (Vitis vinifera L.) era uma cultura importante no passado nas Astúrias (Noroeste da Espanha), mas a filoxera e mais tarde o "boom" da indústria de mineração quase levou à sua extinção no século passado. Atualmente, os viticultores estão resgatando as cultivares antigas presentes na região desde tempos remotos, mas o longo período de abandono originou a falta de informações sobre as suas características. Foram estudadas quatro cultivares minoritárias tintas ('Albarín Negro', 'Carrasquín', 'Verdejo Negro' e 'Mencía') e duas cultivares minoritárias brancas ('Albarín Blanco' e 'Godello') das Astúrias (Espanha) relativamente à fenologia, fertilidade, vigor, produção e qualidade de frutos durante dois anos consecutivos. Verificaram-se grandes diferenças entre as cultivares: 'Verdejo Negro' e 'Albarín Blanco' tiveram um abrolhamento precoce nos dois anos, 'Carrasquín' foi o colhido mais tarde, e 'Albarín Negro' apresentou a maior fertilidade total. 'Mencía' teve o maior peso de cacho e, juntamente com 'Verdejo Negro', a menor acidez total e maior pH. O ácido chiquímico revelou-se um marcador varietal, sendo o seu teor maior em 'Carrasquín', 'Verdejo Negro' e 'Albarín Blanco'. Também foram encontradas diferenças significativas entre os anos nos parâmetros medidos. A caraterização agronómica é o primeiro passo para recuperar estas cultivares minoritárias da extinção e proporcionar aos viticultores um conhecimento mais aprofundado das características de cada cultivar, permitindo enriquecer e diversificar o mercado do vinho com diferentes pr...

The Exploitation of Local Vitis vinifera L. Biodiversity as a Valuable Tool to Cope with Climate Change Maintaining Berry Quality

“…In this view, recent studies have shown that the intra-varietal diversity of commercial varieties could be exploited to maintain grape quality under future climate conditions [18,29,30]. On the other hand, in the last decade, there has been a renewed interest in recovering and studying local ancient cultivars to preserve the genetic resources of each grape-growing region [31][32][33][34]. This trend could be a valuable strategy to sustain higher genetic diversity, as well as product diversity in the markets.…”

The Valorization of Spanish Minority Grapevine Varieties—The Volatile Profile of Their Wines as a Characterization Feature

“…The existing Vitis vinifera L. varietal diversity is one of the resources to be explored in terms of dealing with climatic change effects and mitigate its consequences [4,[10][11][12][13][14]. Several other reasons are gaining increasing interest from some winegrowers and wineries in recovering minority varieties; a rising interest has been demonstrated in other areas which are linked to grape and wine fields, such as viticulture-related media or consumers; and a highly globalized wine market, as well as the homogenization of wine products have both triggered the study of minority varieties gaining more enthusiasm and importance within recent years [15][16][17][18][19]. Some of these unknown or presently forgotten varieties, as a result of being neglected in past decades due to their lower yields or lower alcoholic degrees, may provide more tolerant genetic resources which are more capable of dealing with the warming climates, thus potentially contributing to increasing the varietal diversity available for the production of distinct and differentiated wines [20].…”

Dissimilar Responses of Ancient Grapevines Recovered in Navarra (Spain) to Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Symbiosis in Terms of Berry Quality

“…Among the strategies suggested to cope with the next challenges of agriculture (e.g., climate change, sustainable production and/or competition in a global market) is the exploitation of the intraspecific genetic diversity within crops, including grapevines [4]. Thus, in some grapevine growing regions of the Mediterranean zone, this approach is generating a renewed interest to know the genetic resources available in this species, both in collections and isolated in old vineyards [5][6][7]. Therefore, the prospection, recovery and study of ancient cultivars are becoming very important to preserve the genetic resources of a region.…”

“…In Spain, there is an increasing interest to identify and recover forgotten ancient varieties to give a response to the market demanding regional typicity and diversity. These old cultivars show a very narrow regional distribution, but studies focused on their genetic and oenological characterization are showing new sorts of wines that can identify productions from local or small geographical regions, providing them with special recognitions [6,[8][9][10][11]. Moreover, this trend attempts to counterbalance the rapid loss of genetic diversity in vineyards and could be a very positive strategy to maintain higher genetic diversity, as well as product diversity in the markets [12].…”