In Montenegro, red wines are produced predominantly, and Vranac accounts for nearly 80% of these wines, followed by Kratosija and Cabernet Sauvignon. In order to characterise polyphenols in red varieties, grapes were sampled from representative vineyards at harvest time during 2011 and 2012. The content and distribution of extractable anthocyanins, low-molecular mass proanthocyanidins (LMP) and highmolecular mass proanthocyanidins (HMP) in the seeds and skins of the grape berries were evaluated by applying a five-day extraction method using ethanol:water (12:88) as extraction solvent. On average, the highest content of LMP (2 006
INTRODUCTIONGrape growing and winemaking in Montenegro started to develop in ancient times due to the geographical position and warm climate of the area. Winemaking is traditionally based on local varieties such as Vranac and Kratosija. Kratosija dominated until the outbreak of phylloxera, although Vranac became the preferred grape variety due to its lower heterogeneity and improved skin coloration (Ulicevic, 1966;Pejovic, 1988). Vranac and Kratosija are also cultivated in Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia and are considered as indigenous varieties of the Western Balkan countries (Bozinovic, 2005). The winegrowing areas in Montenegro are increasing due to renewed investments in wine production, and are producing both local and international grape varieties. Vranac is the dominant grape among red grapes, whereas Kratosija is decreasing and Cabernet Sauvignon is increasing (Pajovic et al., 2011).Vranac grapes are considered to have a strong polyphenol potential (Ivanova et al., 2011), as well as a high colour potential (Avramov, 1991). In contrast, Pajovic et al. (2009) reported about 300 to 400 mg/L of anthocyanins in young Vranac wines.Flavonoids, i.e. anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins (also called grape condensed tannins), account for the major part of red wine polyphenols that have an impact on the sensorial quality of red wines; they are wine preservatives and the basis for ageing. Anthocyanins are responsible for the red colour (Ribéreau-Gayon, 1982) and proanthocyanidins for the colour stability (Somers, 1971), the taste of bitterness and the mouthfeel of astringency (Robichaud & Noble, 1990). Generally, the astringency of proanthocyanidins increases with chain length and the bitterness decreases (Peleg et al., 1999;Chira et al., 2009). Other studies, however, report that differences in astringency are mainly due to the total content of proanthocyanidins in wines (Brossaud et al., 2001;Preys et al., 2006). Flavonoids, besides having technological importance, are also strong antioxidants that are important for human health (Rodrigo et al., 2011). The levels of anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins and the distribution of proanthocyanidins between the skin and seeds of grape berries are determined by grape variety, and by climatic and pedological conditions (Mattivi et al., 2002a(Mattivi et al., , 2009. The grape variety also has an impact on the degree of proantho...