Efeitos da desfolha na videira ‘Chardonnay’ em clima subtropical de altitude

Abstract

The ‘Chardonnay’ cultivar has shown great potential to plant and to develop in sites above 900 m of Brazilian Southeast, being used to produce sparkling wines. The quality of this product is directly related to vineyard climate and management, since they affect the vine development, grape and the wine composition. In the present study three defoliation orientations, east side, west side and east/west sides, at veraison, and a group of plants without defoliation were compared in order to observe the impacts of this management on the vineyard quality and productivity, and the impact on the base wine quality. Vineyard sanity and production, and grape, must and base wine composition were analyzed for two years. The east/west defoliation showed a base wine with higher alcohol content and less acidity, while the control without defoliation greater grape and the base wine acidity, results due to the higher and lesser exposure to the sun, respectively. Defoliation at veraison led to the fungal diseases infestation in environmental conditions of that region. There were differences in the aromatic composition of the base wines between the years, The east/west defoliation showed a base wine with a fruity, citric and tropical aroma more intense. Therefore, for Brazilian Southeast, defoliation is not indicated in the vineyard, since the defoliated plants did not present advantages in relation to the non-defoliated plants.